Minnesota Divorce Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution designed to assist both parties in a divorce reach a mutually acceptable solution. It involves meeting with your spouse and a neutral third party, for the purpose of working to agreement on issues that must be resolved in order for the two of you to end your marriage. Its value rests in placing the divorce process under your control, and giving you and your spouse, rather than the Court, power to make important decisions that will shape the futures of all those involved, including children.
Divorce Mediation is Especially Effective:
- When both parties are seeking a flexible and confidential way to move on to the next phase of their lives
- When both parties are desiring to avoid costly and emotionally painful litigation
- When both parties are believe each of their individual needs can be met to the extent permitted by available resources
- When both parties are committed to parenting their children together, even though they will no longer be married to each other
When these criteria are met to any degree, divorce mediation is worth exploring. In cases where these criteria are present to a high degree, divorce mediation has proven to be a powerful tool that allows couples to move forward in their lives as whole people.
Divorce Mediators are trained professionals from varied backgrounds such as law, accounting, psychology, religion, etc. No matter what their background is, a divorce mediator is to remain neutral at all times and not give advice to either party. The role of the mediator is to allow for free exchange of information, and encourage a level of trust in both the other party and the mediation process that permits all concerned to find a mutually acceptable solution through open discussion and direct negotiation.
Mediation allows you the flexibility to either have your divorce attorney present at mediation sessions or simply use your attorney as an advisor between sessions. The decision is ultimately yours, but the last thing you want is to mediate agreements that are unacceptable to the Courts. The primary goal of divorce mediation is to craft agreements that are acceptable to all concerned parties, and meet the requirements of the Court.
The agreements you reach through the divorce mediation process can include all issues at hand in your divorce, or you can focus solely on financial or child-based issues. Again, the choice is yours.
As a client of Kallemeyn & Kallemeyn you have access to the best of both worlds in your divorce proceedings. Not only does Kallemeyn & Kallemeyn give you highly qualified and experienced legal representation, we also offer divorce attorneys who are certified and registered as Qualified Neutrals under Rule 114 of the Minnesota Rules of Practice.
One of our Senior Partners, Lisa Kallemeyn, serves on the Early Neutral Evaluation Panel in Anoka County for Custody/Parenting Time Evaluations and is one of the more experienced evaluators in the region. Lisa’s family law practice enables her to keep abreast of legal issues important to the Court, while offering the services of a skilled divorce mediator. This combination of family law and divorce mediation significantly increases the likelihood that agreements you reach through mediation will also be accepted by the Court.
