In mediation, we take the time to discuss more than the nuts and bolts of asset division and who spends what holiday with the children. Divorce can feel cold and challenging enough without the sense that the professionals are looking at your case in a “one size fits all” model. A mediator we know once described his process as a carwash–you check off what services, issues and outcomes you wish. We at Family Mediation could not have a more different approach.
As difficult a time in life as it is, the inflection point of divorce is also an opportunity to explore priorities, discuss financial needs and goals and lay a foundation for working together as parents. These are deep, highly individualized discussions and so are the resulting agreements. Just because a holiday schedule or a spousal support amount worked for one family doesn’t mean it will work for yours. Perhaps your families reside in different states or even countries. Perhaps you have one annual family reunion or maybe a frail elderly loved one. Is this the moment in your life to consider retraining professionally? If so, can we help you work out a financial agreement so you can achieve that goal? We contribute ideas to the conversation but are committed to giving you the space and attention needed to craft the agreement that makes the most sense and achieves the most goals for your family.
In comes Laura Wasser, California divorce lawyer to the stars, promoting an online process that will save folks lots of money (which we applaud) by using a formulaic design (which we don’t) for your family. The web approach does not provide you an attorney, nor legal advice. That means you are making decisions in a vacuum, simply applying formulas and pop culture values.
This may indeed be a welcome service for some families, but who among us is cookie cutter? If you go this route, you may miss the chance to do more than process paperwork–you’ll miss the chance to craft the future you alone can imagine for yourselves.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/03/style/can-you-get-divorced-online.html