Frequently Asked Questions

In divorce mediation, both spouses meet together with a neutral, impartial, trained professional mediator who helps them come to a mutually acceptable agreement on issues of parenting (child custody), division of marital assets and marital debts, child support, and alimony sometimes called spousal maintenance. Divorcing couples make decisions for themselves by directly communicating with one another in private and keeping control over their own divorce process.

Divorce mediation is a confidential, cooperative, non-adversarial process in which parties work together with a neutral mediator, attorney William J. Leininger, JD.  to create a divorce agreement that is fair and equitable to both sides.  In divorce mediation, the couple is usually in the same room discussing all the issues with one another and reaching decisions, which helps save time and money and improves post-divorce relationships. In divorce litigation in Court, each party discusses each issue with his/her own divorce attorney.  The lawyers then speak with one another.  Each lawyer gets back to his/her client for more feedback and the entire process repeats over and over about every issue. And there are many issues to address in a divorce!.  This process can make divorce litigation take a very long time, get very expensive, and create a more combative relationship between the spouses.  Studies show that children suffer more in a high conflict divorce - and that it is the level of conflict that affects the children negatively, not the divorce itself.  

Our online Zoom mediation sessions are held 6 days a week, Monday through Saturday, between 11:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The length of the divorce mediation process depends on the complexity of the issues in your particular case.  Generally, divorcing couples have two to five 90-minute meetings with the divorce mediator, scheduled at your convenience, although Mr. Leininger has completed the Divorce Mediation process including the preparation of a 50-page Marital Settlement Agreement in as little as nine days when both parties were anxious to complete the mediation, despite having over two million dollars in assets!

We charge a reasonable hourly rate. We request an initial retainer of $2,500 (total for both spouses) to begin your Divorce Mediation.  Many couples divide up that retainer 50-50 unless only one spouse is working outside of the home.  We accept cash, checks, Zelle, and major credit cards.  While every divorce mediation is different, 90% of Staten Island Divorce mediations involve total mediation fees (but not including the fee to file for and obtain the Divorce) of between $3,000 and $8,000 total, not per person.  If a business or professional practice is involved, or the parties own assets valued at many millions of dollars, the fee may be higher. Alitigated divorce generally costs between $50,000 and $75,000 or more, and still, parties end up settling before trial in over 97% of the time!

No, The divorce mediation process requires both parties to attend meetings (either virtually or face to face), so you can make joint decisions about your futures.

We recommend that each mediation client hire a divorce attorney to inform you of your legal rights, and to review the draft Marital Settlement Agreement before you sign it.  In New York, once the mediation is complete and both spouses sign the Marital Settlement Agreement, we will frequently represent one of the spouses in an uncontested divorce action if the other spouse agrees and signs a waiver of conflict of interest, for a low, flat rate fee.

Yes.  Divorce mediation and litigation can be used together. The best approach, which saves the most money, is to limit divorce litigation to only those few issues that do not get resolved through divorce mediation. In this way, couples don't argue about matters on which they mainly agree.  By finding areas of the agreement through the divorce mediation process, divorcing couples improve their post-divorce relationship, and save valuable time and money.  Mr. Leininger has limited his practice to Divorce for over 40 years!  He knows about the divorce process and how to work with people in dispute to arrive at a fair settlement agreement.  Mr. Leininger helps divorcing couples reach agreements on parenting, child support, division of marital assets and debts, and, if applicable, spousal support (alimony). In a few cases, the parties do not agree on one or two issues in mediation, and they then decide to resolve those remaining problems through their divorce attorneys. This approach is still less expensive and time-consuming than trying to complete the entire divorce in Divorce Court!

Yes.  You can start divorce mediation at any point during a divorce, even if you have already filed paperwork in court or started divorce litigation with a divorce lawyer.  Mr. Leininger will address the same issues as a divorce lawyer -- parenting plan, child support, division of marital assets and debts, and spousal support (alimony).  In fact,  for over 28 years, Mr. Leininger has urged all of his mediation clients to consult a divorce attorney to use as a legal adviser, and sometimes to help file the final paperwork in court.  We will give you a list of mediation-friendly review attorneys when you hire Mr. Leininger as your mediator.

Our office in Staten Island, New York is one of the few practices in New York that specialize in divorce mediation.  It is all that we do in New York, except in those cases in New York where the couple requests that Mr. Leininger process the uncontested divorce!.  Mr. Leininger uses his experience as one of the most experienced Divorce Mediators to provide divorce mediation services in a calm, professional way to his clients.