If you have been searching for Maryland divorce mediators, you will find a variety of choices. There is little uniformity to Maryland divorce mediation practice structures and fee arrangements. To aid in your quest to find a less adversarial forum to discuss child custody, alimony and support and division of property and allocation of debts, look for a Maryland divorce mediator who also offers a free consultation in order to assist you in your comparisons.
Not all Maryland divorce mediators are attorneys. Some Maryland divorce mediators are non-lawyers and have expertise in the field of social work or psychology. Mediating with a therapist may be fruitful, but the Parenting Plan document is a contract, with legal rights and obligations, so if a couple seeks out a non-lawyer Maryland divorce mediator to address issues of custody and comes to agreement, it is best to follow up with a Maryland divorce mediator who is an attorney to draft the Parenting Plan, address financial matters and help calculate Child Support in Maryland.
Experienced Maryland divorce mediators who are attorneys, like Nancy Caplan, Esquire, have drafted hundreds of detailed, thoughtful parenting plans, and qualified Maryland divorce attorney-mediators draft parenting plans every day. The lynchpin of Maryland divorce mediation is the empowerment of the couple to choose their professional help that fits their needs, to allow them a non-contentious forum to address sensitive issues without distracting antagonistic legal wrangling in the court system.
Choosing your Maryland divorce mediator is the first issue you must agree upon after making the decision to divorce or separate, but only if you are seeking a better way to divorce than threats, fear and anger. Although Maryland divorce mediators each have unique processes, the goal is the same: to help the parties reach agreements based on voluntary disclosures of financial information and to tailor agreements relating to custody in a non-adversarial manner outside of the courtroom. Divorce mediation in Maryland allows the parties to actively and constructively rebuild their family in separate homes in a more affordable and less stressful process when compared to attorney-led adversarial negotiations and/or costly litigation in the Maryland court system. The driver of this system is the widespread understanding that parents make better choices relating to their children than an impersonal judge can do.
Maryland divorce mediators are the first option of the Maryland courts where the parties file in court relating to child custody matters in Maryland. Unless an attorney “opts out” of mediation, the parties are referred a Maryland divorce mediator, and many counties in Maryland have mediators available at the courthouse to assist the parents. However, if you are already in court, using the judicial system to help you determine child support, alimony and/or property settlements in Maryland, both parties have probably already spent a lot of time, money and energy to hire their respective attorneys before any agreements are reached. If the parties started out in mediation, they would have had the opportunity first to explore whether attorney-led negotiations and/or litigation was necessary. If the first discussion following the difficult decision to divorce in Maryland was how to vet Maryland divorce mediators this would set a tone of willingness to resolve the issues by contract, meaning a “Marital Settlement Agreement.”
Many, many people are not interested in extra drama during this very hard time. The trend to alternative dispute resolution and the uptick in the number of Maryland divorce mediators reflects this enlightened viewpoint.
If you feel the Maryland divorce mediation process might be right for your family, Nancy Caplan, Esquire, Mediator, has 17 years of experience in divorce mediation and custody mediation in Maryland. Since the pandemic, Ms. Caplan has offered a free consultation by Zoom teleconference to give the parties an opportunity to learn about how Maryland divorce mediation works in the process she has crafted over these many years. There is no obligation; and you will not be asked to “sign up” for Maryland divorce mediation at the free consultation. The free consultation serves an informational purpose only, to make sure the parties understanding how to navigate child custody and/or divorce in Maryland using a Maryland divorce mediator.
Reach out to Nancy Caplan, Esquire at mediatedivorce1@gmail.com and ask for your guide to Divorce Mediation in Maryland, and to understand the steps to setting up your free consultation by Zoom teleconference. Even if your spouse or co-parent is not “on-board” with any process of separation or divorce in Maryland, a message sent that says, in essence, “I want to proceed thoughtfully and without escalating this traumatic situation” plants a seed of peacemaking which is preferable to planting a seed of rage, fear or war. Plant the seed you want to grow to handle this difficult situation. It will likely save your emotional and financial resources that you will need to rebuild the family into a different structure.
Not all Divorce Mediators in Maryland are the same. Find out which Maryland divorce mediator is right for you. Email Nancy Caplan, Esquire, attorney and mediator, at mediatedivorce1@gmail.com to receive her standard informational guide to divorce mediation in Maryland, and to schedule your no-cost, informational consultation by Zoom teleconference. Both parties must attend the Zoom teleconference informational consultation.