The choice to separate from your spouse after making memories and sharing commitments is never easy. But actually going through divorce proceedings? That brings on new challenges. It’s natural to picture the divorce process as an adversarial court battle. But if you and your partner are on relatively friendly terms, you don’t have to fight it out. Instead, you may be able to find common ground by enlisting the help of a divorce mediation lawyer.
A divorce mediator will walk you and your spouse through a mediation process. They won’t choose a side. Instead, they’ll guide both of you to finalizing your divorce faster and easier than it otherwise would be. In the end, you’ll experience a much faster, more amicable divorce process.
How a Divorce Mediation Lawyer Helps You
How does working with a mediation lawyer actually work in practice? Essentially, you’re hiring a neutral party to help you and your spouse resolve your marriage.
Rather than advocating for either side as a legal representative, a mediator helps both parties reach a shared understanding. They’ll help you and your spouse reach a consensus on key issues like:
- Division of property
- Settling assets and debts
- Child support and custody
- Spousal maintenance
These are some of the most important aspects of anyone’s life. It’s easy for anyone to get bogged down by what’s “fair” in this situation. When you enlist the help of a mediation lawyer, you’re welcoming an unbiased perspective to encourage healthy compromise.
While some mediators are lawyers, like Michelle Cimino, mediators are impartial and don’t provide legal advice to either of you. However, they will let you know how New York’s laws would apply to each area of concern. So they help provide insight into what contesting your divorce in court would look like.
Ultimately, with mediation, you and your spouse remain in control of the final decisions and avoid going to court. You’ll finalize the divorce details once you sign your separation agreement and have it reviewed by a third party.
The Mediation Process
The process of mediating your divorce with a third party plays out in phases. First, your divorce mediation lawyer will identify what issues you and your spouse need to resolve. They will ask for financial records and for your interests regarding child custody, child support, and alimony.
Next, they will compare your needs and interests. The mediator looks for areas where both parties agree and share mutual interests, highlighting where both of you align. Using this information, a mediator helps you and your spouse negotiate areas where you disagree. Finally, the mediator helps each of you remember what matters most to you, fostering compromise.
You’ll both sign off on your consensus to end your marriage when you pen the separation agreement.
Benefits of Using a Divorce Mediation Lawyer
Divorce is stressful, but mediation reduces the tension in several ways. First, mediating is less expensive than contesting your divorce in court. Instead of paying for two lawyers along with court fees, you simply pay for a mediator and filing fees. Another key benefit is a much shorter road to finalizing your divorce. Instead of spending years in court, you might resolve your marriage in weeks or months.
Lastly, during mediation, all issues discussed are strictly confidential. If you decide to contest your divorce in court later on, you won’t need to worry that what you said in mediation will count against you.
Want to mediate your divorce? Michelle Cimino is ready to support you. As a leading divorce lawyer in Rochester, she is prepared to help you resolve your divorce as seamlessly as possible. She will compassionately listen to both sides with an unbiased ear and work to help you avoid contesting your divorce.
Book a Confidential Consultation Today
While it’s not easy, you and your spouse both accept it’s best to separate. If you also agree you’d rather talk through your divorce than go to court, it’s best to hire a divorce mediator. They are a neutral party that helps you and your spouse dissolve your marriage while avoiding a lengthy court process. Mediation lawyers help both parties determine what matters most to help you both reach a healthy compromise.
Michelle Cimino is one of Rochester’s best divorce mediation lawyers with over 20 years of experience in family law. She is ready to help you and your spouse finalize your divorce through mediation.
Book a confidential consultation today and start your divorce mediation process.
