Family Mediation services resolve issues involving family members, typically children. The benefits of working through this with a professional divorce mediator are reduced tension, confidence in the final outcome, a faster resolution, and a mutual basis for your family moving forward. A mediator is a neutral party present to keep everyone focused on the right solution.
There are several aspects to family mediation, including:
- Divorce involving kids: Come to terms on arrangement for the kids after the divorce, including custody, finances, and child support.
- Legal Separation: In some cases, it’s better to have a period of legal separation rather than a divorce.
- Parenting Plans: An agreement on decision-making responsibility, parenting time, schooling, healthcare, even rules regarding communication about the kids.
Who Pays for Family Mediation
In a divorce mediation, you are still married, so the cost of mediation will arguably be a community debt to be split up with the rest of the bills. If the divorce is already filed, this payment can be negotiated as a percentage according to the overall divorce settlement or other creative arrangement.
Family mediation as part of a divorce will cost $2900-3900 with Affordable Mediation. Other mediators charge as much as $10,000 for this service.
While financial assistance may not be available through the State of Arizona, Affordable Mediation can arrange payments for those in a hardship situation.
What happens at family mediation? How does family mediation work?
What happens during family mediation can depend greatly on the mediator. At Affordable Mediation, you are together in the same room, without attorneys, and with nothing already binding in the session. We are focused on coming to a mutual agreement with compassion, dignity, and a focus on the kids. Some mediators have you in separate rooms or in the same room with your attorneys. Both of those scenarios tend to set up a situation of conflict, fear, and heated debate rather than working toward a mutual agreement.
Resolving Family Conflict
Negotiations and discussions around family (kids) can run emotions pretty high. The conflict that arises during these talks can be the hardest to resolve. An experienced mediator will know the best options and be able to manage the emotions and guide the discussions. We do this by exploring all options and considering each person’s goals. The mediator keeps a sense of fairness going, always focusing on the family goals and a realistic financial situation for them going forward after the settlement. In our experience, we have found having a mediator with a background in psychology is extremely helpful in exploring underlying fears and concerns and helping overcome any emotional roadblocks.
Next Steps
Whether you’re just beginning the process of divorce or are moving on to creating a parenting plan for your kids following a divorce, the mediators at Affordable Mediation will help you navigate through these sensitive waters and find an agreement that takes care of your family for the long term. Call us today at 602-714-7447 for a free phone consultation and get your family’s future on track.
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