The Divorce Paperwork option is appropriate when there is little or no conflict, no significantly complex issues, and the parties already have an agreement (or would feel comfortable negotiating for themselves after having their legal questions answered.)

The Divorce Mediation option is appropriate where there may be conflict or communication challenges, higher value assets or debts, complex situations, or where the couple would feel more supported with the assistance of a neutral attorney mediator leading the negotiation process.

This depends a great deal on the participants, and particularly how soon their questionnaire information can be provided to the us, and how quickly the participants can work out an agreement.

Sometimes this happens very quickly and the final judgment paperwork can be submitted to the court as early as 30 days after opening the case with the court.

Other times, the participants need more time to reflect on what works best for them, or several mediation sessions are needed to work out more complex situations.

For “Paperwork only” divorces, the turn around time for your draft paperwork is typically 1 week after we receive your questionnaires.  For “Mediation” divorces we can usually schedule the initial 2 hour mediation session as early as 1 week from receipt of questionnaires.

Every case is different, but on average, “Paperwork only” divorce judgments are typically submitted within 1-3 months, and “Mediation” divorce judgments are submitted within 3-5 months.

Once an agreement is reached and a final judgment is signed and submitted to the court, the court typically takes 1-3 months to process the paperwork.

*Note that in California, the court cannot terminate the marital status of a couple until after 6 months from the time the case is opened with the court and the Respondent is “served”.

This doesn’t mean that the you have to wait 6 months to submit the judgment paperwork, it just means that the official date that the you are divorced cannot be until after 6 months.

No, it is not required when working with us, but parties do have the option and may choose to obtain legal, financial, and other professional advice at any time during the process.

We consider mediation to be an more economical process of dissolution, since both parties often share the expense of one mediator, and if needed, one or both parties may retain consulting attorneys for review or advice on a limited basis.

However, keep in mind that hiring an attorney to represent you can be very expensive, particularly if they are not settlement-oriented.

If you do choose to hire an attorney, it’s typically much more cost-effective to utilize them as a consultant who will provide you with personal legal advice, as opposed to having them represent you and “take your case” out of your control.

Court Filing Fees: Our flat fees do not include the court filing fees, paid directly to the court. Initial Pleading filing fees are $435 – $450 depending on county, plus electronic filing fees, which may range from $13-$25 depending on county.

Court Appearance Fees: Depending on your county, the court may automatically schedule status conferences when a case is opened. These hearings can usually be avoided or continued. The flat fee does include a continuance or appearance for the first status conference. For additional appearances, we charge a flat fee of $300 per court appearance.

QDRO Drafting & Filing Fees: If your settlement agreement requires the division of a retirement account, your plan may require a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). We offer QDRO preparation and filing for existing clients for flat fee of $500, or $750 if a Joinder is also required. QDRO court filing fees are $20 per QDRO, paid directly to the court.

Additional Mediation Sessions: If your issues are (or become) more complicated and cannot be concluded within the 4 hours of mediation time included in the flat-rate, additional mediation sessions can be purchased “a la carte” as needed at $300 per 1 hour session.

By choosing to work with us, you would be settling your divorce privately, out-of-court.  No court visits, no judges orders, no family law facilitator appointments.

This means you both can agree upon whatever terms you both decide are fair between the two of you and work on your own timeline, not the courts.

If in the future, situations change and you need to modify your agreement, we do assist with modification of judgments. If modifications are desired, but you don’t have an agreement worked out, we do encourage mediation as first the option before involving attorneys.

Of course, you don’t give up any of your rights by settling out of court. In other words,  you are not excluded from involving the court in the future if you need an order to enforce or modify your agreement.

Well over 95% of our mediation cases are able to reach a final agreement.

In the rare instances where an agreement is not reached in mediation, the parties always have the option to pursue whatever legal remedies they desire within the court system.

Even if there is an issue of which the participants are unwilling to compromise, they still have the option to agree upon everything else, submit a judgment on all the issues except the one that they were unable to resolve, and leave that issue for determination by the court.

Contact us to schedule a free 20-30 minute consultation call with attorney/mediator Michael Cotugno to discuss your situation, answer your questions, and discuss your options.

We encourage couples to be on the call together, but can schedule individual calls if preferred.  We can also provide a conference call number to dial in if you both will be calling in from different locations.

For “Mediated” divorces, Michael does request speaking with both parties (together or separately) to ensure an understanding of the mediation process before proceeding.

Once you decide you’d like to move forward, we send you a fee agreement for signature, an invoice link, and initial questionnaire to complete.

After those are received, we send you a series of questionnaires that assist us in collecting information needed to draft the paperwork or prepare for the mediation session.