What is Collaborative Mediation? Collaborative Mediation is a hybrid of the two most efficient methods of divorce currently available – Collaborative Law and Mediation. Collaborative Mediation offers families one streamlined process that can be more satisfying than either process alone. The parties agree at the beginning that they will work toward resolution in a transparent and respectful manner with the help of their Collaborative Professionals.
Why can Collaborative Mediation be the Right Choice? Divorce can be costly – this is a sad reality. With Collaborative Mediation, you and your spouse can maintain control over the cost, ultimately saving your money for retirement or college funds. While saving money, you also gain the wisdom and expertise of the neutral Collaborative Professionals who co-mediate the issues of your divorce, while having the opportunity to consult with Collaborative Attorneys as needed. This makes for an efficient process.
Collaborative mediation combines the best aspects of mediation and Collaborative Divorce in a process that meets the needs of the divorcing family while minimizing costs. In collaborative mediation, you and your spouse, work with collaboratively trained co-mediators to work through all of the issues of the divorce including legal, financial, emotional and parenting to reach an out-of-court agreement.
Co-mediators can be a neutral Collaborative Coach and either a neutral Collaborative Attorney or a neutral Collaborative Financial Professional. The unique co-mediator team helps spouses gather relevant information, develop options for property division and shared parenting if they have children, and negotiate agreements acceptable to both of them. Instead of requiring all other professionals to attend the settlement meetings at the same time like often happens in collaborative law, the other professionals selectively participate in the mediation sessions when and if the spouses and the mediators feel it would be This reduces costs while keeping their expertise readily available.
In a Collaborative Mediation, the parties chose to enter into an Agreement to use Collaborative principles to settle the issues arising from the dissolution of their relationship. The Parties, Collaborative Lawyers, Mediator, and other Collaborative Professionals design how they will work together to support, guide and assist the clients to reach an Agreement acceptable to both parties. The Mediators prepare a Memorandum of Understanding if the parties reach agreement on all or some of the issues and share it with the parties and their Collaborative attorneys. The Collaborative Attorneys prepare the final legal documents based on the Memorandum of Understanding.
Collaborative mediation combines the best and most successful strategies of Collaborative Divorce with the cost effectiveness of mediation with outstanding success.
Collaborative Mediation is customizable so that you can receive the level of support that you need. It is a process that will allow you to as quickly as possible put your divorce in the rearview mirror.