By: Anthony C. Adamopoulos, Divorce Arbitrator, Mediator and Collaborative Attorney ©2018
In every divorce there are non-law issues. Some are as basic as “Who gets the college chest”? or as complicated as “Where will the children primarily live”?
Attorneys and smart parties are now using professional neutrals (also called coaches) to resolve those issues that are not distinctively legal in nature.
A Financial Neutral expedites the process by analyzing the unique needs of your family, identifying tax provisions related to those needs and creating realistic plans to preserve family income and property.
The Facilitator Neutral expedites the process by helping you and your spouse precisely identify short and long-term goals.
Most experienced attorneys can do all that the neutrals do. But, they do it at their regular rates.
Experienced divorce attorneys charge between $350.00 an hour to $450.00 an hour. Some charge more; some less. The important point is that the hourly fee of your attorney is the same whether your attorney is working on the “separation agreement”, a legal document, or who gets the college chest – a distinctively non-legal issue.
Experienced neutrals charge between $175.00 and $250.00 per hour.
Who can use Neutrals? Parties in contested divorces are already using neutrals to do real estate or business appraisals. So why not other neutrals? Parties trying to “work it out” on their own can really benefit from neutrals. The Collaborative Divorce Process already uses neutrals.
Ginny Simon and Linda Cohan are Facilitator Neutrals. Diane Pappas is a Financial Neutral. The fees of these neutrals follow within the range described above. All three are experienced mediators – a plus.
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