If staying out of court throughout your divorce is a goal, then litigation is not for you. A more practical method of achieving this objective of staying out of court while still coming to an agreement about all the issues of your divorce is using a divorce mediator. A divorce mediator is a professionally trained neutral third party that meets with the couple to address and help resolve all the issues referred to in their divorce agreement.
A divorce mediator at Westfield Mediation, LLC, helps you create your parenting plan- who will be with the kids on a day-to-day basis, special occasions, holidays, vacations. What extra-curricular activities are they doing and who is paying for them? What doctor will they see and when? What happens if a parent moves? And so much more.
Then the divorce mediator will focus on the equitable distribution of your marital assets and debts. What is happening with the house, mortgage, retirement funds, bank accounts, investments, credit card debt, student loans, cars and anything else financial that you can imagine. The divorce mediator will help you lay out your entire financial portfolio and discuss how it is all being allocated.
Next the mediator will address support issues- child support and spousal support (alimony). Child support is something that is mandated in New Jersey and there are guidelines that are used. The divorce mediator can help you with the calculation. Next is alimony. Alimony is not necessarily mandated in the same way the child support is, but if it is warranted in your situation then we help you come to terms of how much the monthly amount will be and how long it will last. We can also include in your written agreement anything else that is important to you. Perhaps you have a pet and you want specific terms included about the care, welfare and costs associated with this family member. Or you have a family heirloom and you want in writing what is happening with this specific item.
This is all done while staying out of court. At a reasonable price-- you are paying a lower hourly cost to work with one individual rather than two divorce attorneys. You cover all the same issues that you would using divorce attorneys in litigation through the court system while remaining out of the courts. And depending on your judge- you may never, ever have to go. You can get divorced without going to court.
For more information about divorce mediation, please contact Randi M. Albert, JD, or Michelle Weinberg, M.Ed., Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, at Westfield Mediation, LLC, at 908.913.0373. View our website at www.westfieldnjmediation.com or email us at info@westfieldnjmediation.com