If you are going through a dissolution proceeding or any family law proceeding that includes modifications of final judgements, child support issues, child custody issues, alimony issues, then most likely you will be required by the courts to attend a mediation. A mediation is a formal settlement conference where the parties sit down with a mediator who is an impartial person designed to help the parties reach an agreement regarding the issues in a case. To mediate issues properly, you should have your financials available such as cost of children’s health insurance, cost of your own health insurance, the cost of daycare, if any, the cost of private school expenses, the cost of extra-curricular expenses for the child and decide who will get the IRS deduction. You should also have the values of any real property as well as the value of any personal property in dispute. If there is any debt in dispute, you should know who’s name the debt is in, proof of the amount owed, and whether the debt was acquired during the marriage or before the marriage or acquired during the separation of the parties. Having all of this information available for the mediator will make the mediation run more smoothly and give you a better chance to reach a settlement with which each party can live.
For more information regarding mediation services, please call our firm at 904-355-8888.