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what's the catch with using a divorce mediator?

9/16/2016

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What am I giving up by using a mediator instead of a lawyer?  Nothing.  You can address all the same areas of your divorce with a mediator that you would with a divorce attorney.  How and why does divorce mediation end up being so much less expensive than litigation?  What’s the catch?  There is no catch.  In fact, you should use a mediator and a lawyer to get divorced.  The mediator is your starting pitcher and does most of the work.  The review attorney (a divorce attorney acting in a more limited role) is your closer, a key player but much less involved compared to if s/he were your only source of support for your divorce.  So you are saving money on your attorney.  The review attorney can offer you legal advice and file all the paperwork required for court.

You are also saving money on your mediator.  Instead of husband paying his attorney an hourly fee and wife paying her attorney an hourly fee, you are both paying one mediator an hourly fee.  That right there is a 50% savings.  There is no retainer required in mediation.  Clients pay for the time that they use as they use it.  The less time you use in mediation the less you pay.  Also because both spouses are in the same room directly speaking with one another, communication is improved and decisions get made much faster and you can then move on to the next issue to resolve.  You can get a lot accomplished in one hour.  A large majority of our clients at
Westfield Mediation, LLC, require only 4-6 meetings to address all the issues of their divorce.

Think about how long and expensive it is to resolve one issue through your divorce attorneys.  Wife has an issue of where the kids are spending Thanksgiving and speaks with her lawyer.  Her lawyer then speaks with husband’s attorney.  Husband’s attorney speaks with husband.  Husband then tells his attorney what to do.  His attorney gets back to wife’s attorney who then gets back to wife.  She disagrees with husband so the entire process continues in this manner. With everyone’s busy schedules this could take hours and days/weeks to resolve.  In mediation, this process could take 10 minutes of facilitated direct communication between husband and wife to resolve.  Hence the huge savings.  10 minutes of paying one fee or hours of paying two fees to address the same issue. 

For more information about Divorce Mediation contact Randi M. Albert, JD, or Michelle Weinberg, LMFT, at Westfield Mediation, LLC, at 908.913.0373.  View our website at
www.westfieldnjmediation.com or email us at info@westfieldnjmediation.com
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    Authors

    Michelle Weinberg, M.Ed.,LMFT, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with many years of experience working with couples.

    Randi M. Albert, JD, is an attorney with experience in family law and public service.

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