Mediation Services
Julie Mack is a seasoned litigator, mediator, and collaborative attorney who is now acting only as a neutral mediator. She offers a full range of mediation services listed below.
Divorce Mediation
In divorce mediation, a mediator acts as a neutral third party who sits down with you and your spouse to facilitate a resolution of all your divorce issues. The mediator doesn’t make any decisions; that part of the process is up to you and your spouse. Instead, the mediator helps you generate settlement options and communicate with each other until you can find a workable settlement of your case.
Most couples can resolve cases through mediation even if they are frustrated or angry. Julie Mack Mediation is experienced in helping you work through conflict, making sure you have all the information you need to make good decision.
Settlement Conferences
For more than 10 years, Julie has served as a volunteer settlement conference attorney for the courts. She is also hired as a private mediator by many attorneys and their clients to resolve cases after lengthy litigation or as an alternative to litigation. This gives people a chance to get their cases resolved without court but with the advocacy they want from their attorneys.
There are times when attorneys and parties need assistance from a neutral, experienced family law mediator. Julie’s mediation skills and litigation experience can help bring closure to complex, even high-conflict cases that were not expected to settle. She encourages all people to try mediation with their attorneys before letting a judge made decisions for you.
Premarital Education & Premarital Agreements
Not everyone needs a premarital agreement, but all engaged couples need education about the laws that will apply to them when they get married. Julie helps couples discuss their financial expectations and educates them about where the law supports those expectations and where it does not. If they choose to create a Premarital Agreement, she will facilitate a discussion of what the terms of that Agreement will be in a healthy, non-adversarial process.
You, as a couple, will learn about the laws that apply to your money in marriage and acquire tools for healthy communication about money. Divorce attorneys and therapists know that arguments over money are common in marriages. Spending the time to understand your partner’s thoughts and expectations about how money will be handled can reduce those conflicts in the future and allow you to create joint goals. If you are getting married, give yourself the gift of knowledge and planning – your relationship will benefit from it!
Marital Mediation
It sounds strange, but a divorce mediator might be able to help you stay married. There are many couples who love each other and want to be married, but their money arguments make it seem impossible. Married couples can create post-marital agreements that change how they hold assets or allocate income. Having a written agreement can help overcome fears about investments, job changes and spending. This is not marital counseling or therapy – it is a guided discussion about how you can create a marital contract to manage finances in a way that benefits your relationship to stop the fighting. It’s problem solving at a practical level.
Co-Habitation Mediation
Many of us choose to live with our partners in long term relationships without getting married. Making the choice not to have a legal marriage does not mean you don’t need legal advice.
When couples choose to share expenses, purchase homes together and make other joint financial decisions to care for each other, they do so without the protection of any marital laws. That could leave you vulnerable in the event of a separation or death. How do you hold title to your home? What is required for your partner to make medical decisions if you are incapacitated? How will assets be divided? How do you care for the children you have together? How to you balance the needs of your partner and your children from prior relationships? What else should you be thinking about? Julie has the experience to guide you through these discussions and create a written contract if you decide that you need one.
Temporary Separation Agreements
The choice to divorce is rarely made overnight. Couples often want a trial separation instead of filing for divorce. What if you and your spouse are considering a separation but you are scared about what your financial situation and obligations would be in that situation? If you are considering a separation, I can help you create a plan to protect yourselves while you are living separately. Divorce is not your only option.
Education In Mediation Services
We all vaguely understand that there are legal consequences when you marry, divorce or live together, but few people know what those consequences are. Julie has personally seen the damage and heartache that can result when someone’s understanding of the law does not match the reality.
Many people are shocked to learn that their financial decisions during co-habitation, temporary separation, and marriage had legal consequences that they did not expect. The results of what they didn’t know can be devastating, emotionally and financially. That’s why education is important and why Julie provide that service as part of all her mediations.
What to Expect
Julie is a very creative problem solver with a commitment to finding options that reduce conflict and allow you to determine your future. When working with her you can expect Julie to do the following: :
- Minimize and neutralize conflict to keep you focused on your path to a new life,
- Tailor the case to your unique, individual needs,
- Ensure your process addresses more than just the law,
- Honestly face the reality of the decisions that must be made,
- Creatively find options for resolution, and
- Weigh the strengths and vulnerabilities of each option.