Attorney Ann LoDolce is a trained and certified divorce mediator, a family law attorney with over thirty-five years of experience, and the author of Divorce with Dignity; a Private, Dignified, and Cost Efficient Way to Exit a Broken Marriage. Attorney LoDolce has successfully guided many parties through the divorce mediation process, using her decades of expertise, insight, compassion, and keen understanding of the law, to encourage individuals to find a mutually acceptable end to an unacceptable situation.

What is Divorce Mediation?

In a divorce, the Court has jurisdiction over four primary issues of dispute, which are like tracks going in the same direction that may or may not cross:

• Custody
• Child support
• Division of Property
• Alimony

In divorce mediation, the agenda is very specific to the people involved and the issues pertinent to them. During divorce mediation sessions, a mediator guides the involved parties through some or all of those above listed issues. Unlike an attorney who advocates for one person, a divorce mediator stands in the middle and never takes sides, focusing instead on bringing all matters to a mutually agreeable understanding. Although the mediator cannot represent either party, she can draft an Agreement that will ultimately become the crux of the divorce judgment.

Who Can Participate in Divorce Mediation?

Any two parties who have made the decision to divorce. All that is required for participation in divorce mediation is a mutual willingness to work collaboratively with the intention of resolving a divorce dispute in the most private, dignified, and cost efficient way.In the event that, despite best efforts, individuals are not able to reach a full agreement via divorce mediation, the work in progress can still be invaluable, providing a basis from which the parties’ individual counsel can work.

What are the Benefits of Divorce Mediation?

With divorce mediation, the financial and emotional costs typically associated with divorce are substantially reduced! With standard litigated divorces, both parties typically retain individual counsel for what is often a belabored, arduous, and expensive process. Mediation, on the other hand, is voluntary processes by which two people meet in a more relaxed environment, with an impartial third party, at days and times that are convenient to them rather than according to the Court’s dictates and limitations. The pace is set by the participants who are spared the frustration associated with court delays or imposed deadlines. Perhaps most importantly, divorce mediation occurs in the privacy of a mediator’s office, opposed to having issues disposed of in open court for all to see and hear.

In divorce mediation, parties retain control over their own lives and actively participate in creating an agreement that is specific to only them, versus relinquishing control to a stranger and allowing a Judge to make the most personal decisions on their behalf. In mediation, unlike in court, there are no surprises.