Couples considering separation or divorce and former spouses or partners experiencing difficulty addressing and/or resolving matters relating to parenting or financial issues can often benefit from the services of a trained third party neutral.

Issues that frequently arise include:

CMC offers Mediation, Mediation-Arbitration, Arbitration, Decision-Making, and Collaborative Divorce Facilitation services to help meet your needs.

Mediation
(click here for general information about mediation)

Choosing a Mediator

Mediators have different personalities and styles. Both parties should feel comfortable with the Mediator they choose. For this reason, CMC offers a free initial telephone conference with each or both of you and/or your attorneys to make sure you are comfortable working with CMC.

What is the process?

CMC typically follows the following process:

1. The Mediator will review the Agreement to Mediate with all the participants at the beginning of the session.

2. The Mediator will meet briefly with you individually to get a sense of your concerns about the process and issues and to identify your goals. These individual meetings are confidential, but the Mediator will ask you to let her know if there is anything you do not wish to share with the other party. If it is important to share the information to help both parties make informed decisions, the Mediator will discuss with you ways to share that information.

3. Building upon the individual meetings, the Mediator will work with all participants to develop the agenda of issues to discuss during the mediation and to develop a list of shared goals that will guide the session.

4. The Mediator will facilitate discussion of the issues, using the identified goals to focus the conversation. All participants are typically in the same room for the mediation session. However, in some cases, the Mediator will meet with the participants separately from time to time or throughout the session.

5. The Mediator may draft a Memorandum of Understanding of your agreements or complete portions of the standard Parenting Plan (JDF 1113) and Separation Agreement (JDF 1113) that can be submitted to the Court to obtain a Decree of Dissolution or to modify an existing Decree.

If all issues are not resolved during the mediation session and if requested by the participants, the Mediator will draft a Memorandum of Progress to remind the participants of matters discussed during mediation session.

Mediation-Arbitration
(click here for general information about med-arb)

The mediation-arbitration process is often used in post-divorce or parenting/child support cases when the parents consistently have trouble reaching agreements about specific issues. Because the CMC Med-Arbiter will be making decisions for your case, both parties must agree to use mediation-arbitration. This agreement is typically included in the Parenting Plan or Separation Agreement or is otherwise part of a court order.

What is the process?

CMC typically follows the following process:

1. The Med-Arbiter will review the Mediation-Arbitration Agreement with all the participants at the beginning of the session. The Agreement will identify a time/session limit for mediation and will identity the specific issues that can be decided by the Med-Arbiter if you are unable to reach agreements through the mediation process. The Agreement will also include any provisions for individual meetings, if any, between the Med-Arbiter and participants during the mediation phase of the process.

2. Mediation. The Med-Arbiter will work with the participants to develop the agenda of issues to discuss during the mediation session and to develop a list of shared goals that will guide the session. The Med-arbiter will facilitate discussion of the issues, using the identified goals to focus the conversation. Absent agreement of the participants and the Med-Arbiter in the Agreement to Mediate, there are no individual meetings between the participants and the Med-Arbiter.

3. If you reach agreements through the mediation process, the Med-Arbiter will draft a Memorandum of Understanding of your agreements that can be submitted to the Court to modify an existing Decree.

4. Arbitration. If you are unable to reach agreement through the mediation process about the issues which you have specified as ones that can be decided by the Med-Arbiter, the arbitration process will begin.

This process can be very formal or informal depending on the terms of the Mediation-Arbitration Agreement.

5. The Med-Arbiter will issue a written award stating her decision and support for the decision. This award will be submitted to the Court to be entered as a Court order.

Arbitration
(click here for general information about arbitration)

The arbitration process may be used in post-divorce or parenting/child support cases when the parents consistently have trouble reaching agreements about specific issues. Because the CMC Arbitrator will be making decisions for you, both parties must agree to use the arbitration process. This agreement to arbitrate typically included in the Parenting Plan or Separation Agreement or is otherwise part of a court order.

What is the process?

This process can be very formal or informal, binding or non-binding, depending on the terms of the Arbitration Agreement. There are no ex parte contacts, other than those relating to scheduling, between the parties and the Arbitrator. The Arbitrator will issue a written award stating her decision and support for the decision. The Arbitrator will submit the award to the Court to be entered as a Court order.

Decision-Making
(click here for general information PC/DM)

Decision Making is sometimes used in post-divorce or parenting/child support cases when the parents consistently have trouble reaching agreements about specific issues such asparenting time, specific disputed parental decisions, and child support. The Decision-Maker has authority to make binding determinations to implement or clarify the provisions of a pre-existing court order in a manner that is consistent with the substantive intent of the court order.

Because the CMC/DM will be making decisions for your case, both parties must agree to use the decision maker. This agreement is typically included in the Parenting Plan or Separation Agreement or is otherwise part of a court order.

Collaborative Divorce Facilitation

[RESERVED]