Family Law Mediation
Hiring lawyers to resolve Divorce, Child Support, Child Visitation/Time-sharing, Modification and Paternity actions in Court can be scary, emotional and expensive. Going to Court isn’t for everyone. Sometimes, the spouses/parents can hire a Florida Supreme Court CertifiedMediator to assist them in privately resolving issues existing between them to develop documents recognized by the Court without the expensive legal sparring that occurs in litigation.
SHAMY, EL FADEL & MAHONE offers family mediation services by a family law attorneyto assist parties to work together with an impartial, neutral mediator, to develop parenting plans/visitation/time-sharing schedules, divorce settlements, division of marital assets/liabilities, child support determinations, modification agreements, relocation of children agreements and many other issues. The mediator does not make decisions for the parties. Instead, the mediator is a family law attorney with knowledge of the legal process and training in dispute resolution who helps the Parties to come to an agreement.
Why Choose Mediation?
Spouses /Parents can take control of their own destiny rather than leaving personal, familial matters most sacred to them to the public format of the Courts. The spouses and parents can also avoid publicly dragging each other’s names through the mud in court and resolve their issues privately using a neutral third party, there to assist you in negotiating and addressing each person’s concerns. Our mediator will take the time to understand the Spouses/Parents positions to assist them in working together to develop agreements to be reduced to a legal settlement without the hassle and sometimes financially devastating expense of hiring lawyers, experts, guardians, parenting coordinators, etc. and the cost of depositions. Rather than spending years litigating their case leaving their children, assets/liabilities, and financial future in limbo, Spouses/Parents can settle their case over a meeting or a series of meetings with a mediator, usually in less time and with less money. Further, the spouses/parents can ensure that their documents are completed properly.
How Does Mediation Work?
First, the mediator will provide you with worksheets asking you to provide pertinent information concerning your family prior to meeting. You may set an appointment to come into the office and meet with our Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator to discuss the process and begin mediation. The mediator will meet with you together with the other side, meeting with you both in the same room, or separately (dependent upon your preference). The mediator’s role will be to spend the day (or other allotted time) with you to develop common ground between yourself and the opposing party and to ultimately determine a settlement agreement. The entire process is confidential and the mediator is impartial and neutral. During your session, the mediator will offer a multitude of working solutions to the problems/issues of your individual case. No two cases are the same and the mediator can meet with you in a series of sessions and/or accomplish the entire mediation in one sitting, dependent upon the complexity of the issues at hand. This process places the power in your hands to develop solutions for your future, for a fraction of the price of hiring attorneys and litigating.
What Can The Mediator Help Me Do?
The Mediator can help you and the other side develop parenting plan schedules for you and your child(ren), determine how parents will communicate with the children, arrange when/how the child(ren) will communicate with the parents, divide assets and liabilities, calculate child support, etc. At the end, once the Parties have developed an agreement, the mediator will draft a settlement agreement for both parties to sign and bring to the Court.
Call our office today for rates and to schedule a private family law mediation.