Resolution
Mediation
Divorce without Destruction
Resolution
Mediation
Divorce without Destruction
Every relationship faces a moment of decision — to rebuild, to redefine, or to part ways. Whatever the moment, you don’t have to face it in a courtroom, and you don’t have to face it alone. At Resolution Mediation, we guide you through the issues that matter most, so you can make informed, cooperative decisions that protect your family, your finances, and your future. Every plan we help you create is written into a legally enforceable agreement — without ever requiring you to set foot in court.
based in Zionsville Indiana and serves families throughout Boone, Hamilton, Hendricks, Marion, Hancock, Clinton, Johnson, Shelby, Morgan, and Madison counties, including:
When you decide you can’t save your marriage, our Divorce Mediation process walks you through the financial, parenting, and personal decisions to navigate divorce securely. We provide information on the full range of issues you need to consider and the options for doing so. We also discuss both the benefits and potential drawbacks of the options being considered so you understand how they would work moving forward.
Armed with information, you and your spouse create legally binding agreements on what you consider a fair division of financial assets, divide your personal property, build a parenting plan centered on your children’s wellbeing, and craft a plan for life ahead. Many parents also use our Child Inclusive Mediation to ensure children’s perspectives are considered as you create a plan for moving to two homes.
We put your decisions into a Settlement Agreement that we file, along with all other needed documents, with the court. Your agreement is an enforceable agreement that protects both of you, without the cost and conflict of a courtroom battle. Even if you can’t save your marriage, you can save your family, finances, and future. We offer divorce without destruction.
Some couples come to the place where an issue, several issues, or ongoing patterns significantly threaten their relationship. They don’t want to divorce, but they do need to make changes. If you want to fix your marriage/relationship rather than end it, our Couples Mediation process helps you define the issues or conflicts that undermine your relationship.
Through mediation you then come to agreements about what you will each do differently so you can build and enjoy the relationship you both desire. In Couples Mediation you create a concrete plan — covering issues from finances to parenting to your relationship as a couple — for getting the relationship you want. One couple may choose to create a specific budget and spending plan when financial strain undermines the relationship.
Another couple may delve into how to better join forces and recognize differing perspectives in parenting. Yet another may need to make specific agreements on how to protect the priority of their relationship in the busyness of life. Couples Mediation is not therapy. It can serve as a practical complement to counseling or stand alone as a conflict resolution framework for resolving issues. Through Couples Mediation you focus on turning renewed commitment into lasting change.
Sometimes couples choose to live apart to create space to work on their marriage. Yet, they desire protection and a plan for what will happen while living apart.
A mediated legal separation agreement puts legal protections around your finances, property, and parenting arrangements.
Together you make concrete decisions about financial issues such as who will pay the mortgage, how will bank accounts be used, and which property may be considered separate. If you have children, you plan for when each of you will care for children, how you join in financially supporting the children—whether through child support, sharing of expenses, or some combination. The focus of the mediation for legal separation is for the two of you to create room to reconcile and/or clarity for when it might be time to divorce.
For parents who were never married, mediation offers the space to confirm parental rights and create a parenting plan that gives your family the same security and structure divorcing parents create. We assist you to make decisions on custody, day-to-day care for children, how you desire to celebrate holidays, how you will join in/share decision-making, and how the two of you will financially support the children.
Those decisions are put into a Paternity Agreement which is filed with the Court and enforceable by the Court, yet you never have to go to Court. The mediation process can also include our Child Inclusive Mediation to ensure children’s perspectives are considered in the plan you create.
Life changes. Parenting plans need to change with it. Whether a parent experiences a job relocation, children change schools, children who were toddlers enter school, or a plan simply doesn’t work—we help parents come to decisions that work today. In mediation, parents find a safe space where, with the assistance of mediators, they can productively discuss how to revise their agreement.
Parents define what still works and what needs to change. Mediators help parents communicate their individual priorities for meeting children’s needs and come to agreements doing so within the separate homes. We also often provide options parents didn’t know they had to meet particular challenges. Parents create an updated plan to fit their family’s current reality and children’s present needs. The mediators file the updated parenting plan with the court, so the new plan is just as enforceable as the old one.
A prenuptial agreement doesn’t have to be about planning for divorce. A good prenuptial agreement creates a foundation for starting your marriage with clarity and trust around money and property. Because of the old adage, “Never discuss money or politics,” many couples don’t have needed financial conversations before marriage.
Mediation creates a space for those conversations and for couples to create a clear plan for how they will handle money and property. Also, many estate planning attorneys now strongly advise their clients to ensure children have prenuptial agreements in place for children to inherit under estate plans.
Whatever the impetus, many now consider prenuptial agreements a key protection for married life. Mediators guide engaged couples through honest conversations on their financial goals, expectations, and how these frame how you will handle assets brought into or built during the marriage. Couples make clear agreements on which property you will share and which will remain individual. Many couples use the prenuptial conversations and agreements to plan for generosity. The shared, agreed expectations create a solid foundation as you enter married life. Instead of the state imposing it’s defaults should you part ways, you set your own defaults.
Have a question?
People going through divorce often feel like they are stepping off a cliff. They are keenly aware they don’t know what they don’t know. We offer answers in a process that protects people, preserves assets, and provides a way forward.
Call 317-793-0825 or contact us here.