By: Anthony C. Adamopoulos, Divorce Mediator and Collaborative Attorney ©2020
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 save money and still resolve those issues that are not distinctively legal in nature.
A Financial Neutral expedites the process and cuts costs by analyzing the unique needs of your family, identifying tax provisions related to those needs and creating realistic plans to preserve divide family income and property.
The Neutral Facilitator expedites the process and saves money by helping you and your spouse precisely identify short and long-term goals and apply them to current issues.
Most experienced attorneys can do all that neutrals do. But, they do it at higher hourly rates.
Experienced divorce attorneys charge between $350.00 and $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 a legal document or who gets the college chest – a distinctively non-legal issue.
Experienced neutrals charge between $175.00 and $275.00 per hour and can save you real money.
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 cut costs with neutrals. The Collaborative Divorce Process uses neutrals in most cases.
Ginny Simon and Linda Cohan are respected Facilitator Neutrals. Diane Pappas and Jody Goldman are respected Financial Neutrals. All three are also experienced mediators – a plus.
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