Mediation: Memorandum of Understanding

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If you and your spouse are open to negotiation, you don’t have to resort to a contentious court battle to end your marriage. Mediation is a famous conflict resolution method for divorces in NYC. It involves a neutral third-party mediator, often an experienced family law attorney without any conflicts of interest favoring either spouse. The mediator facilitates private negotiations between the divorcing couple, ensuring the conversation remains focused and addressing any legal questions that arise. Couples can also prepare a Memorandum of Understanding with our attorneys to facilitate the discussed agreement.

During mediation, the divorcing spouses may have their respective attorneys present at some or all of the sessions. Having an experienced attorney during mediation can contribute to a smoother process. The objective of mediation is for the partners to personally negotiate their divorce. Once they reach an agreement on all aspects, the mediator verifies the legal validity of the proposed divorce agreement. The spouses’ attorneys may also review the drafted proposal to ensure fairness and protect their clients’ best interests.

The mediated divorce agreement is then presented to an NYC family court judge for final approval. Mediation sessions continue until all divorce factors, such as property division, debt allocation, and a parenting and support plan (if applicable), are negotiated. Opting for mediation and collaborative divorce rather than costly and time-consuming litigation can result in a faster resolution, often exceeding expectations.

Memorandum of Understanding Lawyer

For many couples, the idea of divorce can be scary. Even though they know that the marriage may be failing, they are unsure of how to go about the process, and even less sure about how to do so and still remain civilized. Most couples hope that their attorneys will be aggressive and try to get as much out of their spouse as possible, but fail to realize that this adversarial process can double, triple or quadruple the cost of a divorce.

Often, the two sides are in agreement on many of the issues facing them, like who will get the house or who will answer for the debts, but need some guidance to iron out the issues that they cannot come to an agreement on.

For all the aforementioned reasons, we advise spending just a few hours with our mediators with the ultimate goal of saving money and reaching a harmonious state with your spouse. Each side’s needs and wants are represented. The cost of mediation is often a fraction of what a contested divorce will cost, and can be a great solution for those couples who do not have a lot of assets to divide.

Another great feature of mediation is that it can create a middle ground from which couples can learn to communicate with each other. This is especially important when there are children involved and couples may have fallen into some bad habits when it comes to how they talk to each other. Never forget that your children are watching and if you can teach them that you can work out your differences civilly, it is a lesson they will keep with them forever.

Mediation can successfully address issues such as the terms of the divorce, custody and visitation, property settlement and child support. In mediation, the neutral third party (mediator) facilitates communication between the parties concerning the matters in dispute and explores possible solutions to promote understanding and settlement. Mediators are skilled at moving two parties towards resolving their issues and manage uncomfortable situations.

Following mediation, the mediator can prepare a document called the Memorandum of Understanding, which contains the agreements made by the parties and is signed by the mediator. The parties can then use this document as a guideline for preparing their divorce papers.

If you are interested in finding out more information about domestic mediation, please contact our firm.