Settle your Bloomington Illinois divorce or custody issues in a
sane, sensible and fair way at a reasonable cost.
Divorce Mediation is:
- 90%
less expensive than litigation
- Confidential
and private (ask us about keeping your agreement from being included in the court's public file)
- On
your time schedule, not the court's
- Tailored
to your family's needs
Divorce litigation over property, parental rights, and pride
destroys families. The cost of court is high, both financially and emotionally.
Divorce mediation offers a sane, sensible, and affordable
alternative, to people in the Bloomington-Normal area who are going through a
divorce or child custody proceeding.
A Divorce Mediator will craft a settlement that works for you and
for your family, work with you to explore options, get the information you need
to make good decisions and reach your own agreements, keeping you in ultimate
control over your future.
Is divorce mediation for you? Get started by calling to speak with
a Divorce Mediator personally or to schedule a mediation consultation.
*Divorce Mediation: A neutral facilitator helps people in
conflict explore options, improve communication and find a settlement that
works for everyone involved.
**Divorce: When a marriage is dissolved, the parties are
single and unmarried after the final decree enters with the court.
What to Bring to Your First Mediation Appointment
Most people start with a free mediation orientation in our
Bloomington Illinois Office. Most orientations last 20 - 40 minutes depending
on how many questions you have.
Divorce mediation is most efficient when you come to your
mediation session prepared with some basic information. The better informed you
are about your assets, liabilities, children's schedules, and your goals for
the outcome of your situation, the more progress we can make in your mediation
session.
If I've already filed divorce papers, can I still mediate?
Yes. We help many couples who are already in the process of a
divorce, custody, modification hearing or court case. We can help you resolve
your issues so that you can submit your agreement to court and avoid expensive litigation
and court dates.
How can you help me speak to my spouse about divorce mediation or
custody mediation?
There are several options for how to contact the other party and
suggest mediation. Talk to us and let us know what you think would be best:
After learning more about the mediation process, you can speak
with your spouse or parent of your child in order to suggest divorce mediation
or custody mediation. You can let him or her know that we are available to
speak to him or her, send out information, or answer questions about divorce
mediation and custody mediation.
We can send information to your spouse or parent of your child
directly, or we can send two sets of information to you so that you can share
one set with the other party.
You and your spouse or parent of your child can come in for a free
half-hour mediation orientation so that you can meet the mediator you'll be
using, ask questions about the process, and discuss your situation before
deciding if mediation would be helpful in your case. That way, you both meet
the mediator at the same time, and the intake information is given to the
mediator with both of you present.
Any combination of the above—for example, you may want to speak to
your spouse or parent of your child about mediation, and let him or her know to
call our Bloomington Illinois Office to discuss it further. Or, you may want us
to send a package of information to your spouse, and you can call him or her to
let them know information is coming.
What should you expect from your divorce mediation process in Bloomington Illinois?
Divorce
mediation involves a number of steps which eventually lead to the production of
a final divorce agreement which, when signed, marks the end of your marriage.
Our goal as your
divorce mediators is to provide you with a smooth, civilized and quick divorce
mediation process.
To help you
learn about your divorce mediation process, we offer a no obligation, free
consultation session where we will go over your case and explain to you the
process in detail.
To schedule a
free, no obligation session use the contact form on this page.
Identifying the
Issues at Hand
In order to begin the divorce mediation process, we first need to identify all the issues that will be included in your divorce agreement. In the first consultation/introductory session we will begin to get an overview of your specific situation and figure out a course of action to reach mutual agreement for all of your concerns. We will identify issues and information that is required for you to make educated decisions and reach an agreement. Our experienced divorce mediators will help you and your spouse effectively communicate your wants, needs and expectations.
In addition,
some basic ground rules concerning the mediation process will be established,
such as willingness to share all relevant information and basic discussion
rules that will allow each of you to express his view freely.
Gather and
Dissect Information
At this stage, your divorce mediator will make sure all necessary information for the mediation process is available. It is crucial that throughout the divorce mediation process we will discuss all pertinent information openly and honestly and that no relevant information will be kept hidden by any of the spouses.
Depending on the
issues you are facing, there may be times when we will suggest further
consultation with outside professionals in the Bloomington/Normal area such as
therapists, accountants, real estate agents, house appraisers, child
specialists, and so on.
The Mediation
and Negotiation Sessions
After we will know which issues we need to discuss and have all the relevant information at our disposal, we will begin the negotiation process.
One by one we
will address each issue until an agreement, with which you both feel
comfortable, is reached. Your divorce mediator will facilitate the discussion
and make sure it is productive. He or she will make sure that both of you get a
chance to express your views and feelings and that no decision is made by
coercion or under pressure.
Whenever
necessary, he will provide you with information regarding the issue at hand in
order to provide you with an objective perspective for your discussions.
The mediator
will not tell you who is right or wrong. His/her role is to allow you to
communicate and to make sure that all issues are covered and all considerations
are weighed.
Final Written
Divorce Agreement
Once final arrangements have been made verbally, your divorce mediator may draft (if appropriate and if you both agree) your divorce agreement. If you wish, you can then present the divorce agreement to your respective attorneys. After your attorneys have reviewed the document, we will reconvene to make any requested changes from you or your spouse.
The divorce
agreement will then be finalized and presented to the court for approval (only
if you both agree to that) along with the court's uncontested divorce papers.
Once the divorce agreement and papers have been approved, your divorce will be
legal and complete.
We know you
probably have a million questions and you wish to avoid any rushed decisions.
For this reason, we offer a free, no obligation 30 minutes consultation in our
Bloomington Illinois office that will allow you to learn about the kind of
divorce mediation process that will work best for you.
