Mediation

Mediation is an alternative to litigation in general and, more and more frequently, is becoming an alternative to traditional divorce. In mediation, couples appear together before a neutral third party mediator. Under New Jersey law, mediators are not required to be attorneys and, frequently, are not. Often, mediators are members of other professions (such as psychologists, social workers, teachers, etc.) who only engage in mediation on a part time basis. Couples meet with the mediator in an informal setting in an effort to resolve the issues in dispute between them. Once the parties have resolved their outstanding issues, the mediator's task is complete. Couples must then hire separate attorneys for the purpose of reviewing (and, often times, modifying) the agreement that the parties reached during mediation and for the purpose of then preparing all of the documents that the parties will need in order to proceed to Court to obtain a divorce on the basis of the agreement that they reached during mediation.

Mediation has some very distinct advantages over traditional divorce. In mediation, couples are able to work out their own resolution of the issues in dispute between them, which resolution they can tailor make to suit their own specific needs. That resolution is based on the decisions of the parties themselves and, unlike traditional divorce, neither party has to fear that the other party will get a better result than he or she should just because that party had the better or the more expensive attorney. Mediation is also generally much quicker and much less expensive than traditional divorce. The benefits of mediation are not without certain costs, however. Since mediators are not required to be attorneys, many of them are not. Non-attorney mediators can not be of assistance to the parties when legal issues are raised during mediation. Once the parties are in agreement as to the resolution of their matter, the job of the mediator is completed. The parties are not divorced at the end of mediation and they must then hire their own separate attorneys for the purpose of reviewing (and, often times, modifying) the agreement that was reached during mediation and to prepare the doucments that the parties will need in order to proceed to Court to obtain their divorce. While mediation reduces the cost of the settlement aspect of obtaining a divorce, it does not eliminate the cost associated with the hiring of attorneys for the purpose of obtaining a divorce based on the agreement that was reached during the cousre of mediation.

If you are looking for an experienced divorce mediator, please do not hesitate to call Jay at 973-598-9580 or, if you prefer, e-mail him at Jay@YanavokLaw.com, by using the link at the top of this page.