If you are considering divorce, you may be intrigued with the idea of mediation. For the right couple, mediation can certainly be an effective tool for reducing the acrimony—and cost—of a divorce. Whether that is true for you will depend upon a variety of factors, including the level of trust between you, the complexity of your issues, and the quality of your communication with each other.
Mediation is an unregulated profession, i.e., some mediators are attorneys, and some are well-trained, but some are neither. Choose a mediator with care, with attention not only to qualifications but also to temperament. Mediation, like divorce representation, involves a fair degree of discussion of intimate personal and financial details, and it is important that you are comfortable with the process and the person. If you choose mediation, you should still have individual legal advice, even if just to review the results of the mediation, because the mediator does not represent either person: his or her role is to assist the couple in coming to an agreement, not to assess whether that agreement is in either party’s best interest. Moreover, even an agreement accepted by both parties must be approved by the judge; an incomplete or otherwise inappropriate agreement can be rejected at the time of final hearing, which is a result that neither party desires. Any good mediator will advise participants to retain their own counsel, for that very reason.
Attorney Sullivan is available not only as a trained and experienced mediator, but also to advise you through mediation, to ensure that the mediated agreement is in your best interest, is drafted appropriately, and can be accepted by the Court.
posted on September 10, 2017 by
