Avoid the Heartache and Mediate

Divorce is expensive. It hurts. It’s the end of a union that at once was thought to be for forever. Not only is it an entire change of life for the people that are involved, but it’s also only made worse when other people become involved. First, it’s close family and friends. Then, extended family. And, when you’re in a small town, everyone knows. Not only do they know, but they have an opinion. That’s where rumors and drama come in. 

I’ve once heard of a young couple who were seeking a divorce in the early 1990s. They made a mistake getting married and they knew it. The young woman didn’t want anything. Just a simple, clean divorce. The young man listened to his family and friends, and hired an expensive lawyer in a silk suit, refusing to even speak to his soon-to-be ex-wife. Only to walk into the courtroom to find that his ex-wife had indeed not hired an Orange County family law lawyer, and instead just stood there plain-clothed and honest. “I don’t want your money. I just want to be free.”

That could have all been avoided if there were more communication. The young man could have saved possibly hundreds of dollars and just consulted a divorce mediator. A divorce mediator is someone who acts as a moderator for discussion between the couple about the division of assets and marriage. A much cheaper option, the couple usually saves money and heartache from having a long and drawn-out legal battle. 

McNamee Mediations could have saved this couple. The thing is they, save couples like this all the time from the difficult divorce battles that we hear about so often. Just a few months ago, Beth B. writes, “Colleen is seriously a miracle worker!  Our divorce had been dragging on for nearly four years, and we had made very little headway using other mediation and divorce professionals without success.”

Another client, Craig G. says, “Colleen was great to work with and made a very difficult and emotional situation manageable. … The cost was very reasonable and a fraction of what it could have been taking other legal options.” This is just another example of where McNamee Mediations have stepped in, saving another family from the long, costly, drawn-out process of divorce. 

Because of the high divorce rates they grew up with, millennial couples are getting married later and later. Millennials are lowering the divorce rate nationally. An article by the USA Today says, “University of Maryland professor Philip Cohen found that from 2008 to 2016, the U.S. divorce rate dropped by 18 percent. … To measure the divorce rate, Cohen compared the number of divorces to married women. When controlling for other factors like an aging population, the results show only an 8 percent drop, “but the pattern is the same,” Cohen notes.” The article by the USA Today summarizes it to say that it’s likely the divorce rate will continue to drop because people are waiting until they’re older, more financially secure, and better educated.

So, it looks like millennials are paving a new path to marriage. It makes sense that they’re taking the less traditional path to a more amicable, communicative divorce as well. For instance, in high-cost of living areas like Irvine, divorce mediation may seem impossible, but with a great mediator like McNamee, it’s certainly possible in even the most complicated of cases.

If you are in need of a mediator, please reach out to:

McNamee Mediations

4590 MacArthur Blvd Suite 500, Newport Beach, CA 92660

(949) 223-3836