Divorce Mediation Services

The Path to a Better Divorce

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Divorce
Mediation
Services

Choose a Better Divorce.
We Provide Solutions.

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Newport Beach Divorce Mediation

Working Towards Successful Divorce Mediation

Having a mediator who understands the laws and who can make sure your rights are protected is crucial. Alternative Divorce Solutions can assist you with this, while also ensuring that your divorce is handled smoothly.
Alternative Divorce Solutions can help you stay in control of your divorce!
  • You remain in control of your family’s future, happiness, and stability.
  • Make a conscious decision to move forward in a cooperative manner.
  • We help turn a courtroom battlefield into a safe zone.
  • We help transform a normally combative legal process into a collaborative one.
There are so many benefits to divorce mediation, and we want you and your family to experience these benefits. Wondering about what to expect in divorce mediation? We at Alternative Divorce Solutions are ready to help you make the first step.

To schedule a free consultation, contact us online or via phone at 949-368-2121.

A Sensible Alternative to Litigation

Mediation allows you and your spouse to make crucial decisions about your divorce and the future of your family, rather than having to rely on the ruling of an impartial judge who may not understand the various complexities of your unique situation.

Focused on the Well-Being of Your Children

It is no secret that divorce can be an incredibly emotional process for every member of the family. This is especially true for young children witnessing the separation of their parents. Without careful consideration and thoughtful planning, even the most good-natured of couples can begin to make rash decisions due to feelings of friction, resentment, or pride. Suddenly, couples could find themselves under the scrutiny of California’s Family Courts or forced to bow to the discretion of a judge.

Unlike litigation, mediation leaves the decision-making completely up to you and your spouse. Your trained attorney-mediator will give you information and guidance throughout the process to make sure you and your spouse are able to make informed decisions about your future. At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we like helping our clients reach “win-win” resolutions for everyone involved, especially young children.

What to Expect During the Mediation Process

Mediation is a process where you and your spouse sit down with a highly trained and fully licensed professional mediator. Your mediator will be considered a neutral party who can guide the mediation process and can typically let the process unfold organically based on your situation. As your mediator, we can be trusted to be a fully neutral party but still provide relevant information, structure, and options as your mediation process develops.

Sometimes it helps to involve a third party that has no interest in the matter to help distinguish what is important, to communicate during moments of conflict, and to remind both parties of what needs to be done. At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we pride ourselves on doing all of this while also creating a safe space where our clients can feel comfortable having open, honest, and truthful dialogue amongst one another. Communication is one of the most essential factors to reaching a successful divorce.

How Long Does Divorce Mediation Take?

At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we tell our clients that the time they spend in the divorce mediation process depends on their own willingness to cooperate.

Our divorce mediation clients are given a number of sessions at their initial consultation meeting. This is assessed based on the complexity of their case and ranges between 1-6 meetings.

If the couple is cooperative and provides all of the documents necessary for a successful divorce mediation, they can be done with our office in 6 weeks or less! This is very short in comparison to the length of time a litigated divorce can take.

Tips to Prepare for Divorce Mediation

Here is a list of suggestions to maximize your time in mediation:
1. Come Prepared – At your initial consultation, you will be given the financial disclosure forms that will need to be filled out before your first divorce mediation appointment. Basically, there are two forms: Schedule of Assets and Debts and Income and Expense Declaration. During your initial appointment, your divorce mediator will explain how to fill out these forms and provide detailed instructions to take home for assistance. The sooner you complete these forms, the sooner you can book your first divorce mediation appointment.

2. Be Flexible – Being flexible means that you are flexible with your divorce mediation appointment scheduling, as well as on what you want the final agreement to look like. Your continued cooperation during the divorce mediation process will assist your divorce mediation attorney in guiding you through your appointments efficiently.

3. Be Responsive – Act quickly to review documents and complete steps throughout your mediation process. This will help you avoid unnecessary delays. If you are planning to get documents reviewed by an independent attorney, do your best to set appointments with him or her as soon as possible. Attorneys are often busy and need advance notice for new appointments.

Divorce mediation is known for being a much more cost effective and efficient way to handle a divorce. At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we work with you to make sure that you reach the goals you have set for the process. We value your time and emotional energy.

How Alternative Divorce Mediation Can Help Your Family

We strive to help you and your spouse resolve all crucial issues of your marriage without having to escalate to litigation and without having to rely on courtroom involvement. Our entire mediation process is cost-effective, respectful of your emotions, and fast (generally, and depending on your needs).

In mediation, you can resolve all of the issues a judge would decide, such as:

  • Child custody
  • Child support
  • Debt division
  • Marital agreements
  • Mediation review
  • Paternity cases
  • Property division
  • Same-sex dissolution
  • Summary dissolution
  • Uncontested dissolution
Your mediator will also work to create an environment of trust and transparency, which will allow you to openly communicate about your needs. Due to the respectful nature of mediation, a foundation for continued cooperation is established. At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we are familiar with the pain and devastation a litigated divorce can cause. It is our mission to provide you and your family a better way.

Create a positive ripple effect in your life by choosing mediation. By taking an alternative way to divorce, you can set your family up for a happier, more peaceful future.

Virtual Mediation

Virtual mediation is a very new process that is not being used by very many mediators. You may ask yourself, what is virtual mediation, and is it right for me?

Virtual mediation is a process where one spouse is present in the mediator’s office, and one is out-of-state or in another city and present via a confidential video software. Basically, the mediator video-conferences in the out-of-state spouse so that he or she can participate in the process as if in the same room. All of the necessary documents are sent via e-mail and U.S. Mail so that everyone involved has access to all of the same information.

Taking a Team Approach to Complicated Matters

Team mediation is an approach that our divorce mediation attorney and our legal team perform for our clients if we determine you need additional resources and help. Sometimes, couples are good candidates for mediation but they have an issue that is a little bit more complicated.

For example, if there is a business involved it may be helpful to know the value of that business and how much income it generates. In this case, we can add a neutral financial expert to the mediation process to assist you in the information-gathering process. When there are complicated parenting issues involved, we can add a parenting expert to the mediation process who will help you overcome the challenges of co-parenting.

To schedule a free consultation, contact us online or via phone at 949-368-2121.

Meet Our Team

Experienced in Guiding You To a Resolution

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Headshot of Lani Baron, divorce mediator at Alternative Divorce Solutions

Lani Baron

Founder
& CEO

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Headshot of Jeanann Khalife, attorney mediator at Alternative Divorce Solutions

Jeanann Khalife

Attorney-Mediator
& Managing Partner

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Clients Share Their Stories

Stories Like These Inspire Us Every Day

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“Thank you for all your knowledge, conscientiousness, and kindness.”

– Beverly

“First and foremost, I found that I had a lot to learn about the divorce mediation process. I did not exactly know what the role of the mediator was or if we would still have to go to Court.”

– Donald B.

“I was so stressed out before I went to ADS. Once I got there Lani sat with me and my husband and explained the whole mediation process. After I left I knew exactly what to expect and ADS lived up to my expectations.”

– Giz S.

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Request Your Free Consultation

The First Step Starts With You

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Top 10 Reasons
To Choose Mediation
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  • You get to be in control of your divorce.
  • Tailored solutions based on your needs.
  • Focus on your emotional well-being.
  • Eliminates combative power struggles.
  • Less stressful for every family member.
  • Neutral help from a qualified mediator.
  • Completely private and confidential.
  • Can protect the interests of young children.
  • Saves time by preventing long litigation.
  • Less money spent on attorney and court filing fees.