Separation and Divorce are two of the most devastating events in a person's life.  Those who have endured  the breakup of their marriage will attest to the anxiety, stress, fear, anger, sadness, disillusionment​​ and countless other negative and debilitating emotions that are an inescapable part of this experience.  

 

If you have been through a typical litigated (contested) divorce, or know someone who has, you are familiar with the fact that along with often being very costly and time consuming, litigation often leaves both parties feeling angry, hurt, hostile, and resentful.  Parties are often advised to communicate through their lawyers and not with each other.  The result is often to make the parties in an already strained relationship increasingly adversarial, antagonistic, and  uncooperative.   It has been said that the test of fairness  in a litigated divorce is that both parties are equally unhappy.

 

Divorce mediation provides a civil and sensible alternative to divorce litigation. My goal as a divorce mediator is to help couples in conflict make the best of a difficult situation.  I cannot undo the damage that has been done to your relationship.  But I CAN  help you prevent your divorce from making the situation worse.   As a mediator, I meet with both you and your spouse  in a warm, friendly atmosphere where I will help you calmly and rationally discuss and resolve the issues that you need to address before you can file for divorce.  These issues include the division of your marital assets and liabilities, child and/or spousal support, legal and physical custody, visitation or joint custody arrangements, parenting plans, living arrangements, health and life insurance, your children's present and future educational needs and decisions regarding your filing of taxes.  My objective is to help you create a fair, comprehensive, and workable agreement that incorporates provisions for present and anticipated future needs of all family members. In addition to preparing  a Separation (Divorce) Agreement for you which you can file with the court, I  will also provide you with the forms you need for filing and a detailed explanation of the process.

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Mediation is both voluntary and confidential.  Decisions are made in the privacy of my office.  Unlike a litigated divorce, you are not  discussing your private affairs in open court or filing accusations against one another with the court.    Through mediation,  you and your spouse, NOT a judge or lawyers, determines the outcome of your divorce.  There are no surprises for either one of you - the terms of your  divorce will be decided by you and your spouse.  Mediation creates an atmosphere and an opportunity for couples to work out the terms of their divorce in less time, for less cost, and with less hostility.  

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For more information, please contact Mary Anne Johnson at  mjohnson@mjmediator.com or call 781.856.3173.

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