What is Pro Se Divorce Mediation? Before I answer that, I would like to define Litigation.
What is litigation?
"Becoming involved in a lawsuit is like 'being ground to bits in a slow mill; it's being roasted by a slow fire; it's being stung to death by single bees; it's being drowned by drops; it's going mad by grains.' Hundreds of thousands of people are exposed to such torture each year, some of them actually choosing to initiate the process. They invariably find the experience painful, protracted, and expensive. When it has run its course, they often realize that it was futile. Yet there remains a queue of victims impatient for their turn." Charles Dickens, Bleak house , 1853.
Pro Se Divorce Mediation is a process that empowers you, the couple, to make decisions about your family when divorcing. There are no attorneys present during this process. Together, we work out your Marital Settlement Agreement. As a mediator I do not and cannot give legal, financial or psychological counseling advice. At the end of the mediation process you can, if you wish, take the Marital Settlement Agreement to an attorney of your choice for advice on your legal rights and for advice on whether it is in your best interest to sign the agreements. You can also take the agreement to an accountant of your choice for tax and financial advice.
Divorce is stressful. Often times people get caught up in their distress and children's best interests are not considered. This phenomenon happens in the best of families with parents who have always prioritized their children's needs. Often times children become anxious or depressed as a result of this. Empirical research suggests that the children's prognosis is primarily based on the parent's level of stress and conflict. That is, lower conflict, less stress, better prognosis!
If you have decided that divorce is the only option for your family, please contact me. I will help you make the decisions about your family. Why have a stranger make them for you? Someone who does not know you or your children. Together we work through the details of the divorce in a way that makes sense to you, the couple.