RI Marriage & Family Divorce Mediation

1. Do Mediated Divorces Reflect the Law?

During the course of mediation, you will get information about the law. I am not a lawyer, however, I will provide legal information without giving legal advice. This means that I will discuss, for example, alimony and the factors a judge would consider in deciding whether to award the non-monied spouse maintenance, and possible arguments for or against, without advising either of you to give (or not) or demand (or not) alimony. But mediation also gives you the freedom to shape your own divorce.

2. Is my case appropriate for Mediation?

If either you or your spouse has been violent, or if there is suspicion that one person has hidden substantial assets, you would be better off going to traditional attorneys. Mediation requires full and complete sharing of information in order to have an even playing field and the ability to fully participate in negotiation.

3. Am I engaged in the battle of the divorce, or do I want it to be over?

Mediation helps clients to shift their focus from the painful years leading up to your separation and divorce, toward figuring out what they want their future life to be. But they have be ready to let go of some of the anger, in order to begin this process. Most couples who decide on mediation are actually eager to separate and detach from each other. If they are not, the litigation process will work better for them.

4. Don't I need a lawyer to battle for me during my divorce?

If a battle is what you want, hire an attorney, and most likely, a battle is what you'll get.  The truth is, though, divorce doesn't have to be a battle.  Mediation allows both spouses to take control of their divorce.  The law is the law, whether you hire a lawyer or a mediator, that doesn't change.  But, hiring us means that the agreement both parties reach is just that, an agreement.  Nothing is signed until both of you agree.

Mediation is a process where you and your spouse will sit down with a neutral person who will help you, sometimes with and most often without attorneys present, to negotiate the terms of your divorce.

Mediation is non-binding until its conclusion, at which time a contract reflecting your agreement will be signed.

Many people believe that they have to hire an attorney for at least part of the process. In reality, however, the only part of an uncontested divorce that requires a lawyer in Rhode Island is the actual filing of the finalized document.  RI Marriage & Family Divorce Mediation makes sure that that document is complete with all that is required by the courts, so that there is no courtroom battle.  The paperwork is filed and the courtroom part of it is extremely short and simple. 

Regardless, some people will still consult with, or already have consulted with attorneys, before entering mediation, and others do not consult until the terms of the agreement have been substantially worked out.  Either way is fine.

In many cases, families have modest assets and/or incomes and can't afford, in any case, to have attorneys negotiate for them. I know of a couple who had had lawyers negotiating for them for 1  years, and they had spent $70,000 in legal fees! Unless you are very wealthy, or are so angry that you want to use the divorce process to destroy your spouse (and yourself), you will probably not want to enter such a process.