Senior Associate
Have LaFountain and Wollman P.C.’s Team Mediate Your Divorce
At LaFountain and Wollman P.C., we know first-hand that divorce is a stressful process that can put a strain on your mental health. After practicing family law for years, we’ve come to understand the emotional process that many of our clients go through during a divorce. For this reason, we are now proud to use our breadth of experience to serve you as divorce mediators.
As mediators, our job is to help you and your spouse reach an understanding before going to court. Mediation offers you the opportunity to come to agreements with your spouse without having the court force anything on you.
What Is Divorce Mediation?
Divorce mediation is a process that many people enter before taking a divorce case to court. During the conciliation, a mediator helps identify a relationship’s existing conflicts and attempts to provide an agreeable solution for both parties. To do this, a mediator must be a neutral party with no ties to either side of the case. This neutrality is the only way to explore settlement options fairly.
Why Not Simply Take The Case To Court?
Handling a divorce through the courts is a route that spouses can take to settle their disputes. However, a court divorce is a lengthy process that can be traumatic to either party. In addition, the result of a court divorce is often unsatisfactory to one or both partners and can be legally disputed. On the other hand, the agreement at the end of mediation should satisfy both partners. Once signed, a court can only change the agreed terms of the divorce with the consent of both sides.
How Long Does Mediation Last?
There is no set time limit for a divorce mediation as the length of the process depends wholly on each spouse’s willingness to cooperate and the number of conflicts that need settling. As such, the term length for a complete mediation varies widely. However, this kind of arbitration generally takes far less time than a divorce handled entirely through the courts.
Divorce Mediation Provides Legal And Emotional Support
As a neutral party, a divorce mediator only seeks both parties to reach an agreement. That means they do not advocate for one side or antagonize the other. To properly do their job, mediators must temper a couple’s emotions to foster a positive understanding between them eventually. Once attitudes have leveled, it is much easier for a mediator to advise a couple on the state of their legal matters.
For many, the lessons learned during their mediation are impactful enough that they decide to carry them over into their everyday life.
The Process Is For You
Divorce mediation cannot occur unless both sides have agreed to enter into it. That means if you do not feel that you will benefit from mediation or that the process may be more detrimental than helpful, no one can force you to participate. The exercise only works if both parties are fully involved and participating in good faith.
With that in mind, know that anything said or done during a session with a mediator is entirely confidential and serves only to advance the cause of reconciliation. Legally speaking, the court is only privy to the mediation’s resulting agreement details. Mediation allows you to discuss the details of your divorce without them becoming a part of the public record.
Our Job Is To Help
As mediators, our job is to make the process as easy and painless as possible. We are not there to take anyone’s side but rather provide an outsider’s neutral perspective to your case. In doing so, we hope to provide a safe space that will allow both spouses to explore their situation. In addition, we do our best to foster mutual understanding between our clients while providing them with the tools necessary to perform joint problem-solving.
Divorce is a messy and challenging experience. Let someone with experience handling these situations help you get through it in a way that makes you comfortable.
LaFountain & Wollman, P.C. offers divorce services in the following locations:
- Brighton divorce lawyers
- Burlington divorce lawyers
- Cambridge divorce lawyers
- Newton divorce lawyers
- Watertown divorce lawyers
- Woburn divorce lawyers
And, if you’re looking for an attorney in California, check out our friends over at the Law Office of Jacob J. Rivas!