Fees + Services

Mediating a divorce or separation typically costs a small fraction of working solely with individual divorce attorneys. You are strongly encouraged to have mediated separation agreements reviewed by a divorce lawyer for individual counsel before signing, but the overall cost is still far less than divorce litigation.

Mediation fees are invoiced by email and are payable by Zelle, credit/debit card, or bank transfer at the conclusion of each session.

For agreement writing, the estimated writing fee for will be collected when you decide you are ready for a written agreement to be drafted.

Peace, which costs nothing, is attended with infinitely more advantage than any victory with all its expense. ~ Thomas Paine

Mediation sessions

$200/hour — When we meet to work on issues related to your divorce or separation, sessions typically last about two hours, and never more than three, to ensure that everyone involved is able to give their best focus and energy to the process. The hourly fee is the total fee for the two of you, and you can agree to share it in whatever way makes sense in your situation. Reduced fees due to lower incomes or financial hardship are available in a limited number of cases. Much of the work of collaborative decision making is accomplished in these sessions, but you are always welcomed and encouraged to do as much as possible outside of the sessions as well so that we can make best use of our time together. This might include gathering needed documents, brainstorming solutions with or without your ex-partner, and meeting with other professionals (for example, tax or real estate advisors) for consultation when needed.

telePhone intake

Free of charge — Before we meet in person for a first mediation session, I will schedule a brief telephone intake call with each of you at no charge. The purpose of these calls is to give you some important information about the mediation process, to make sure that your case is appropriate for mediation, and to answer any basic preliminary questions you might have. These calls are completely confidential between you and me: nothing that is discussed will be shared with the other party or anyone else. After these phone calls are complete, and if everyone involved is willing to move forward with mediation, we will then schedule our first in-person meeting with all parties together. Contact FFM to schedule your telephone intake.

Agreement writing

A flat fee ranging from $500 to $1,000 for most fully resolved cases, or $200/hour for other writing — I prepare written summaries of each of our meetings so that you have clarity and opportunity to review and reflect on the tentative decsions being made. If you reach full agreement about all matters in your case, I will prepare a written settlement agreement for you formally detailing everything that has been agreed. The writing fee will vary depending on the extent of the writing necessary over the course of the case and the complexity and scope of your terms. In the majority of my cases, a $750 flat fee is the total writing fee charged. In some cases where the agreement is limited to a few issues, or alternatively is more complex or broader than is typical, the fee will be adjusted up or down accordingly. The written settlement agreement will be delivered to each of you in draft form so that you can have it reviewed by an attorney before signing, which is always strongly recommended. Once any additional changes are discussed and incorporated, you will be provided with a final written agreement. This settlement agreement will cover all of the necessary major decisions involved in divorce and/or custody, and can simply be included by your attorneys in the legal filing with the courts. If you decide to file for divorce pro se (without attorney representation), you can add the final written agreement from mediation to your own court paperwork. Even if you and your ex-partner agree only about some of the decisions you need to make, but decide to take other decisions to the court, a written partial agreement can be prepared to cover only those areas. This can help save stress and resources in later litigation by taking some of the issues “off the table.” For instance, if you successfully work out your plan for co-parenting and child support, but are not able to agree about division of property, you can take a mediated agreement about parenting matters to court but still have your lawyers help you with litigating a financial settlement. For many people, this reduces the likelihood of the litigation dragging on and on, eating up a lot more time and money.