shasta county Mediation Lawyer

Resolving Family Law Cases Outside the Courtroom in Redding & Trinity County

Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution method designed to help you resolve your dispute or disagreement with the other party outside of court. In California, you and your spouse, co-parent, or the other party can use mediation at any point in the legal process. You can engage in mediation even if you have retained an attorney. You can also turn to mediation in post-divorce situations, such as when you and your ex-spouse disagree over custody arrangements, child support, or spousal support. 

At the Law Office of Anthony S. Alpert, we provide mediation services for clients involved in divorce and family law disputes. As a Certified Family Law Specialist, our attorney brings a thorough understanding of the issues to your case, as well as family law mediation experience that can work to help you resolve them. If you wish to avoid the time, expense, and stress of litigation, or if a family court has ordered you to engage in mediation in an attempt to resolve your differences, we encourage you to contact us to learn more about how the process works and how we can help. 

Mediation in Family Law Issues

Mediation is not required by courts in a California divorce, except when couples cannot agree on child custody and visitation. In that situation, the court may order you and the other parent to engage in mediation. Mediation may also be required when you request any type of court order regarding child custody at a later time or when stepparents or grandparents ask the court for visitation with a child. When the court requests that you participate in mediation and you refuse, you will lose your right to challenge its ruling on custody. 

The purpose of mediation is for you and the other party to engage in discussions aimed at settling under the supervision of an unbiased third party, the mediator. The mediator’s job is not to decide the issues for you, but to help you understand the issues and to focus your attention on them through constructive and open communication without fault-finding. Mediators are responsible for ensuring that the process is conducted fairly and encouraging reasonable compromised solutions that will be in everyone’s best interests.