The Role of the Mediator in Orange County Divorce Mediation

By Gerald A. Maggio, Esq.

Orange County divorce mediation attorney; California Divorce MediatorsOrange County divorce mediation is fast becoming one of the leading ways for people to get divorced and end their relationships. The role of mediation has increased in recent years with more and more people looking for an empowered mediation process that is flexible and cheap in its workings.

One of the most important things to note in mediation is the role of the Orange County divorce mediator which is starkly in contrast to the role of the Judge in litigation cases. The job of a divorce mediator is to simply act as a bridge between the two warring spouses and make sure that they are able to reach an amicable resolution.

Here is an outline of the workings of the Orange County divorce mediator from the start of the mediation right up to its resolution.

  • First and foremost, the mediator will sit down with both of the spouses and talk to them about their issues. The mediator will look to identify those issues that you and your spouse have the least dispute on. Once they have been identified, the mediator will make sure that the spouses work on that issue to solve it as soon as possible and get it out of the way.
  • The second and most important part of the mediation stage is the custody and visitation issues. Children are the most valuable assets in a divorce and hence most spouses will have major disagreements at this point of time. The job of the mediator will be to outline a few of the best custody and visitation plans that they can come up with and also highlight to the spouse the differences between joint and sole custody.
  • With the custody matters of the child now out of the way, the mediator will make sure that the couples focus and discuss the issue of child support and spousal support. At this point of time, it is upon the spouse to decide what amount of spousal and alimony support they agree on. The Orange County divorce mediator will simply highlight a few set formulas to determine these numbers if the spouses are finding it difficult to agree amongst them.
  • After child custody and support payments have been agreed upon, the mediator will turn the attention of the spouses to matters of debts and assets. While the decision making authorities will continue to the spouses, the mediator will make sure that each spouse has made full disclosures and is aware of the differences between separate and community property.
  • Once all the issues have been dealt with and agreed upon, the mediator will then draw up a settlement agreement that would contain all the points agreed upon by the spouses. This document once it has been drawn up will be signed by the two spouses to make it official.

To learn more about the divorce process in California and how mediation can help, please visit our page, “What is Divorce Mediation.”