Divorce Mediation Services in NYC
Mediation is an alternative to litigation that is often more cost effective and that can result in substantially better outcomes than other methods of dispute resolution. Mediation is especially effective in family law, but can also be useful for business disputes and in any circumstances where individuals become involved in a dispute but ultimately hope to preserve some degree of cooperation.
Mediation relies upon the talents of a skilled, compassionate mediator to be successful. Those in and around New York can find that skilled professional at NY Divorce Firm.
Marina Korsunskaya is a skilled mediator with the extensive knowledge of family law necessary to help you to resolve your disputes in a positive and proactive way.
If you want to resolve your issues through the mediation process, we are here and ready to help. Contact us today to find out how a New York mediator can provide the assistance you need with divorce mediation, mediation of custody disputes, and more.
Benefits of the Divorce Mediation Process
If you are ending a marriage in New York City, mediation is often the best way to address issues related to property division, custody, and negotiation of support.
Mediation is a cooperative process, while litigation is inherently adversarial. When you are divorcing and you litigate on the issues, there will typically be winners or losers. You and your spouse are pitted against each other, which can increase the tension involved in a divorce. If you have shared children, this can make coparenting much more difficult going forward.
The court process is also expensive and stressful for most couples. Preparing witnesses, going through the discovery process, and attending court hearings can exacerbate the emotional tensions involved in an already fraught situation, leaving everyone involved in the process unhappy.
Unfortunately, the litigation process is also not likely to result in the best outcomes for a couple. A judge doesn’t truly understand your family dynamics, the special attachments each spouse may have to particular martial property, or the best ways to create a stable environment for your family. While a judge will apply the law and universal principles to your divorce process to determine how custody and property division should work, a judge cannot know you as well as you know yourselves.
When you resolve issues through mediation, you have the opportunity to create a custody plan and plan for property division that is truly right for your family.
Instead of working against each other, you and your ex will work together to try to create a plan that actually works best for all parties involved.
Because you are working collaboratively with the help of a licensed NY mediator, your relationship does not deteriorate further so you are better able to work together to raise shared children after divorce. And, because you know yourselves and your family like no outsider can, you can craft a divorce settlement that provides everyone in the family with the best possible quality of life going forward.
How Does Divorce Mediation Work in New York?
Divorce mediation has so many benefits because it involves coming together to have open and honest discussions about the issues in your divorce. You can choose mediation to resolve disagreements related to:
- Family law issues, including divorce
- Child custody and visitation
- Domestic violence issues
Participation in mediation is voluntary and it requires the cooperation of both parties.
If you and your ex commit to mediation, you can come together to discuss how to divide up property, how to divide custody, and what should happen with spousal support.
The job of a mediator is to help you communicate effectively and to really hear each other. Marina Korsunskaya does not tell you what to do, does not issue orders like a judge, and does not decide things for you. Instead, she is able to guide you in a discussion that is actually productive. Mediators can facilitate compromise by ensuring that a discussion is respectful, well-ordered, and geared at getting to the root of the issues that you need to address.
Mediation vs. Contested Divorce
When you come to the mediation table, NY mediator will guide you through the talks you need to have about the decisions that must be made so you can create a divorce settlement. While either party can walk away at any time, mediators can usually help you to find consensus. That consensus will become your divorce agreement, which the court will give legal authority to when your marriage dissolves.
If no consensus is reached, then you can go to court and litigate on the issues. When you litigate, you essentially must accept whatever the court decides. This means you lose the flexibility associated with mediation, where an agreement is reached only when both parties think it is fair.
How to Prepare for Divorce Mediation
Successful mediation requires each spouse to be open to the idea of compromise. You and your ex should ensure you are both willing to talk openly and to try to come to a consensus, even if that means you may each have to give up a little bit to get an outcome that is best for both of you. If you cannot agree to try to reach a consensus, mediation is likely to be difficult for you and reaching a compromise may not be possible.
You also need to determine what issues will be addressed in mediation. For most couples, it’s important to tackle all of the issues that matter in a divorce, including property division, child custody, and alimony or spousal support. If you will be addressing family issues, you should prepare a list of assets and be ready to discuss the state of your finances. You cannot have a productive discussion about how assets are to be divided if you do not know what assets you actually have.
Finally, finding a skilled mediator is key to preparing for divorce mediation.
Many people who are divorcing inherently have difficulty communicating and struggle to compromise – if communicating and compromising were simple for the couple, they would likely be able to stay married. A talented mediator can often help even feuding couples to be successful at mediation, but the key is to make sure you have found a mediator who brings the right talents and abilities to your case. Yulia Vangorodska is a person you can really trust.
Mediation vs. Litigation
As you begin thinking about divorce, you will need to think about whether you are willing to compromise and whether you think your ex will also be willing to talk openly with you. You should discuss with your spouse the pros and cons of litigation vs. mediation so you can decide if you are willing to put aside your differences and try to make mediation work.
Mediation has enough significant benefits that even couples who struggle to talk to each other will often decide they want to try mediation. Some of the key differences between litigation and mediation that can prompt couples to embrace mediation as a method of resolving their issues include the following:
- Mediation is a less costly process: It typically costs less to resolve divorce issues through mediation than to litigate a divorce. Fees and costs are lower if you can get a no-fault uncontested divorce because you have already agreed on the issues in mediation.
- Mediation is cooperative: When you aim to find compromises with your ex, instead of fighting each other in court, you can preserve the current status of your relationship, or even improve it, instead of making things worse because you are opponents in a court fight. If you have shared children, being able to compromise and work together can make it easier to coparent.
- Mediation can have better outcomes than litigation: When a judge imposes a decision on you and your ex, neither of you may ultimately be happy with the decision that was reached. The judge applies standard laws to determine what the outcome should be, rather than taking the unique needs of your family into account. When you resolve issues through mediation, you only come to an agreement if you actually both feel it is a fair agreement. Everyone often ends up happier.
- Mediation can be less stressful: Going to New York family court hearings can be frustrated and frightening. You can avoid having to present a case to a judge if you are able to resolve issues through mediation. It’s much less stressful for both spouses if they can work with a compassionate mediator who is guiding a discussion, rather than having to go before a judge. When parents are coming to a consensus through mediation instead of fighting each other in court, the process can also be less stressful for children as well.
These are just some of the many key differences between litigation and mediation. However, there are also some advantages to litigation as well. For example, mediators cannot compel either spouse to provide financial or other information, so if one spouse won’t disclose financial details necessary to reach a settlement agreement, mediation is unlikely to be successful.
A mediator also doesn’t tell participants whether their agreement is fair, or make decisions for the participants. This means it is up to the spouses who are involved in mediation to know their rights and ensure they are protecting their own interests. New York mediator Yulia Vangorodska doesn’t force spouses to agree or impose an agreement upon them, so if a couple can’t compromise, they’ll end up litigating anyway.
Because of the shortcomings of mediation, it tends to work best when both parties are committed to the process. If either spouse won’t be cooperative, mediation is likely to fail.
In cases where spouses cannot communicate effectively, especially in cases of abuse, mediation may also be the wrong choice.
How to Use a New York Mediator for a Divorce
If you think mediation may be the best course of action for resolving the issues in your divorce, you should work to find a skilled, knowledgeable mediator who can lead to your discussion. You want to ensure that the mediator is licensed and is focused on the area of family law, as mediators have different areas of specialization.
You’ll want to make sure you feel comfortable with the mediator who is guiding your discussion, as the mediator will lead you through a talk on some very personal issues related to your family and assets. You can talk with the mediator before the process begins to find out what to expect during mediation and how the discussion will be structured.
You should also prepare the financial documents and details about your assets that you will need so you can have a productive and fruitful conversation during the mediation process. By coming prepared with the information that you need to address division of property and spousal support, you can make the most of your time with the mediator.
Once you sstart working with Yulia Vangorodska, you and your ex will attend mediation sessions.
The number of sessions and the amount of time you spend with the mediator will be determined based on how willing you are to come to a compromise, the number of issues that must be addressed, and the complexity of the discussions that you need to have to resolve the issues that are involved in your divorce.
Often, each spouse is represented by an attorney during the mediation process as well. A family law attorney can provide insight into the proposals made in mediation and help clients to make sure that any divorce settlement agreement that they reach is sufficiently protective of their rights. A lawyer can also help couples to draft an enforceable divorce settlement agreement and to go through the formal process of dissolving their marriage.
Contact a New York Mediator Today
When you want a compassionate, experienced mediator to help you end your marriage, Marina Korsunskaya can provide the help and support you need.
Contact us today to talk with a New York family law mediator to find out about how we can help with the mediation process and to get the assistance you need to end your marriage in a productive, efficient manner.
