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ABOUT your Mediation

Step By Step Guide to the Mediation Process

Guide to the mediation process and how it differs from traditional divorce litigation.

ABOUT your Mediation

Step By Step Guide to the Mediation Process

Guide to the mediation process and how it differs from traditional divorce litigation.

What Our Offices Do for You

We do everything.  Beginning to end, one and done, out the door.  

What we do:

File the divorce papers for you
Pay the filing fee on your behalf
Help you complete the legally required disclosure forms
Resolve ALL issues related to
Real estate property
Child custody and support
Alimony (now called spousal support)
The division of all personal property and bank accounts (including retirement)
& many more divorce issues.

We Also:

Create and finalize a detailed marital settlement agreement (MSA) and make sure it comports with everything we discuss in mediation.  We fill out and complete all the judgment packet forms, and of course, we file everything as we go along.  We get it done for you, and you don’t have to worry.

There are a variety of legal requirements to finalize a divorce, and of course, we follow all such requirements.  We clearly explain to you each step we must take, and we explain the bottom line of the law.  We use both the law and your specific facts to help you forge an agreement that allows you to divorce and move forward in your lives successfully.

The Most Powerful Benefit

If we had to state the one most powerful benefit of mediation, over litigation, it would be our ability to forge creative and unique solutions. In litigation, a judge is limited in how he/she can rule. The judge does not know you at all, and simply rules according to the law. Sometimes that is tremendously harsh to one or even both parties.

But in mediation, we can create or write up anything that serves you in the best way. For example with support, we can have phase-down payments, that start at one amount, and slowly go down. Or the parties might choose to remain co-owners of the home. There are thousands of examples, and each is unique to your specific situation. In mediation, we are the ones that together agree, before signing. In litigation, the judge makes an order and everyone must follow it.

One Underlying Goal

Our one strong, underlying goal is that all parties leave the mediation able to successfully live for the foreseeable future. This is surprisingly almost always possible, even in expensive California.

Usually both parties are afraid literally of making it. They wonder, where will I live now? How will I pay rent on my own? Will I lose custody of my kids? Or for the party making the most money, how much am I going to have to pay and for how long?

These are real concerns that create fear. However, we address these concerns, and by using tools of mediation, experience, and the law, we seek to achieve successful paths forward for both parties. We have accomplished this for literally hundreds of others and can do so for you!

See more below

Aaron Lodge professional divorce mediator
Aaron Lodge, professional mediator

Litigating attorneys feed on fear, but we instead create resolution and success

Litigating attorneys feed on fear and create motion after motion to the court to try and win more than their client deserves. This forces the other side to in turn fight harder and fiercer than they would have before attorneys and court were involved, and the whole thing spirals out of control.

The result is long protracted litigation and huge earnings for the attorneys. Instead, in mediation, your divorce will move faster, with creative solutions, and for substantially less money.

Pricing

With our style of mediation, you will be quoted one sum, you will pay it, and never be charged another dime in fees. Actual out-of-pocket costs, such as filing fees to the court are the client’s to pay. There are sometimes other costs as well, which would always be the client’s choice, such as sometimes doing an appraisal of a house. But the professional fees will be fixed, and quoted to you after one consultation.

Aaron Lodge divorce mediator

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