California Divorce Mediation Services Southern

Take Two: The Real Ex Factor

Debbie Hannan, 57, the subject of SmartMoney’s latest Take Two column on 50-plus entrepreneurs, ran a successful landscape-materials yard in California with her husband for 20 years before their marriage fell apart in 2007. For nearly a year, lawyers fought tooth-and-nail over their divorce settlement, even though the couple broke up on amicable terms, Hannan says. Eventually, her 36-year-old daughter stepped in as a mediator to help wrap up the process.

Family law and business experts say the options facing divorced business partners are stark: Sell the business and split the assets; divide the business into two separate entities; let one partner buy out the other; or keep running the business together even after the split.

Each approach has its ups and downs, experts say, but what they share is a need for both sides to remain focused on the best interests of the business. One way to ensure that is to develop a strong business relationship early on in the partnership, Otis Baskin, a consultant with the Chicago-based Family Business Consulting Group Inc., tells SmartMoney. As extra protection, he suggests setting up a low-key board of directors who can maintain a strict business perspective at meetings, keeping personal grudges from slipping into key decisions.

So how does Hannon fit into a magazine series on post-retirement entrepreneurs? After her ex bought out her share of their business for more than $500,000, Hannan came out of retirement and used the funds to launch the first U.S. branch of Fairway Divorce Solutions, a Canadian chain that provides an alternative divorce-mediation service focused on financial planning and mutual benefits. The Sacramento-based firm, which she now runs with her daughter, is on pace to reach 120 clients and $100,000 in revenue by the end of the year.

Readers, were you able to turn a setback in your private life into a business opportunity? Let us know.  And for more on this topic, please read about the second couple profiled in “ Married to the Job (And Each Other) .”

America’s entrepeneurs are executives who build companies from the ground up. In Charge provides news, analysis and in-the-trenches commentary about small-business management. Produced by Colleen DeBaise, Sarah E. Needleman, Emily Maltby and Angus Loten, with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Have a comment or tip? Write to  incharge@wsj.com .

California Private vs. Child Custody Mediation | Neutral Ground ...

Child custody mediation is a process in which parents work together to develop a plan for parenting their children after divorce with the help of a neutral third party. While mediation can be done privately, the use of court-mandated mediation has rapidly grown over the last ten years.

In many states, including California, the use of such mediation is a mandatory first step in the case of contested child custody cases. The approach and practice in Court-mandated mediation is very different than that found in private mediation (which is the type of mediation we at Neutral Ground use).

In concept, the child custody mediation process is one in which parents work together to devise a parenting plan that is mutually acceptable to both parents. In practice however, court mediated child custody arrangements are oftentimes the result of a mediator recommendation that is then adopted by the court. That is, if you and the other parent fail to come to an agreement, the court through way of a mediator report and recommendation, will make one for you. This simple fact, I would argue, has the ability to color the approach and motivation a mediator might bring to the work of mediation.

In court-mandated mediation cases, the expectation is built in for non-agreement. Moreover, the practice is set up for the possibility of mediation failure and includes instructions from the court for a mediator to make a recommendation. For these reason, our mediators at Neutral Ground do not accept or participate in court-mandated mediation.

Instead, we are dedicated to the idea that by working together in mediation to develop a parenting plan, parents can avoid the battles which are so damaging in an adversarial process, and can truly consider their children in mutual decision-making.  And by promoting and supporting this intent Parents are  empowered through love and choice, not court systems and litigious threats. Moreover, when parents use mediation and develop a parenting plan on their own, their children will be able to avoid a legacy of financial hardships, loyalty conflicts and are less likely to feel the stress of battling parents.

As an example to model, mediation gives children a much greater sense that ultimately they

Research shows that mediation can reduce litigation over custody. When parents participate in mediation, they are likely to reach a settlement 70 to 80% of the time. Parents are usually much more satisfied with mediation than with litigation. Most important, however, if parents use mediation, they will have control over the parenting plan, whereas in adversarial litigation, the recommending mediator and judge determines how parents will spend time with their children. With the improved satisfaction, the increased mutual decision-making, and the decreased hostility, mediation is clearly a healthier alternative than litigation. For those parents who choose it, private mediation services are well worth the investment, especially in comparison to the alternative of litigation.