The Divorce Mediation of Ohio is headed by Attorney Dennis P. Levin and is designed to help you and your spouse work out a negotiated divorce settlement. Our mediation techniques offer a low cost, fast and efficient divorce service. Our fees are based on an hourly rate that is the cost for both husband and wife, as the mediator works for both of you. Please call our office at (216) 831-3939 to schedule your first appointment.
What is divorce mediation?
Divorce mediation still feels like a new idea in some parts of the country, but it's increasingly well-known and widely accepted. Mediation means different things to different people. In mediation you and your spouse will sit down in the same room with each other and with a neutral mediator. With the mediator's help, you will work through all the issues you need to resolve so the two of you can get through your divorce.
Divorce mediation allows both parties to identify, negotiate and resolve the issues raised by the decision to divorce. This neutral person establishes firm ground rules and a confidential environment so that emotionally charged issues can be talked about safely. The mediator helps both spouses gather necessary information and review it systematically. At times, the mediator helps formulate a more creative solution than the court could offer. When parenting agreements and financial distribution plans are made by the spouses themselves, there is a better chance of meeting the needs of the entire family.
Mediated divorces have a higher rate of long-range parental cooperation and a lower frequency of costly returns to court!!
Mediation is flexible and confidential. It gives you and your spouse a way to settle the conflict between you, which is natural and inevitable, in a way that helps you to work together after your divorce.
The mediator remains neutral between the husband and the wife. That means the mediator can't give advice to either party, and also can't act as a lawyer for either party.
What the mediator can do, though, is to point out in open session to both spouses things that each of them should be aware of about what they're trying to accomplish. That open and free exchange of information frees up both spouses to negotiate with each other in confidence. Because both spouses are working with the same base of information, it usually takes far less time to negotiate a resolution that makes sense to both spouses.
Mediation is voluntary. It continues only for so long as all three of you - you, your spouse, and the mediator -- want it to. Your mediator has to have a good reason to withdraw. You or your spouse can withdraw from mediation at any time, for a good reason, a bad reason, or no reason at all.
Does mediation really work? In a word, yes. Statistics indicate that when you compare couples who have mediated their divorce with couples who go through an adversarial divorce, mediating couples are more likely to be satisfied with the process and the results; likely to take less time and spend less money; and are less likely to go back to court later to fight about something.
What are the benefits of divorce mediation?
- The parties control their own decisions.
- Because the decisions are their own, the parties are far more likely to comply with their final agreements. Post-divorce conflict, with potential litigation and additional costs, is less likely to occur.
- Mediation is faster than litigation.
- Mediation is generally less expensive than litigation.
- The parties can discuss emotional issues and have those issues considered in making their decisions.
- The parties can use their improved communication skills and enhanced understanding of each other's concerns to reduce stress in post-divorce dealings.
- Children benefit from reduced tension and hostility between parents both during and after divorce.
- The main advantage of mediation is that it keeps you and your spouse in control of your own divorce. That can make all the difference in your recovering from your divorce and moving on with your life. Mediation allows the two of you to get through your divorce with less conflict than you would experience in an adversarial divorce. Because mediation is all about working with shared knowledge, mediation also often allows you and your spouse to work together to lower your legal cost$ ... which translates to more money for you.
DIVORCE MEDIATION resolves the issues of custody, visitation, equitable distribution, child support and separation all without the high cost of litigation. At the conclusion of mediation, the parties are in every way as divorced as the couple who has emotionally battled it out with litigation.
How does divorce mediation work?
Learn what it's all about: At the first session, the parties talk about their reasons for seeking mediation, and the divorce mediator provides the parties with a detailed outline of how the mediation process works. At this session, the mediator will also set forth the guidelines for the mediation process. The parties and the mediator will identify the information that needs to be exchanged and discuss and agree upon any necessary ground rules.
Identify issues and develop understanding: The parties and the mediator will specify each of the issues to be resolved. On an issue by issue basis, the mediator will attempt to understand as fully as possible each party's point of view as well as his and her needs, interests, and priorities. The mediator also assists the parties in understanding each other.
Explore interests and consider options: With further discussion, the parties explore their interests, and, in view of their own priorities, develop various options that best serve their present and future needs.
Resolution and consensus: During the last step, the parties consider possible options and choose those that work for them and that do not cause the other party to give up something that is important to him or her. These options are then incorporated into an agreement that is drawn up by the attorney mediator. The parties have their independent attorneys review the agreement. If the agreement is satisfactory to both parties, they sign the agreement and move on to the next phase of their lives.
Who handles the court process?
Although the mediator does not act as an attorney for either spouse in the court process, the mediator can prepare court documents for the spouses' signatures.
