In family law cases, the most commonly used service (outside of the hiring of legal counsel in this process) is mediation; perhaps the most attractive aspect of mediation is that it can be tailored to suit the needs of each individual dispute. The mediator can play a low-key and conciliatory role or take on a more proactive role by making suggestions and probing for convergent interests. At WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC, we can guide you through the process as the neutral, third-party mediator; mediation is often employed after it becomes apparent that direct negotiation between adversaries will not resolve the dispute efficiently. However, anyone contemplating mediation must also consider the need to secure guidance of legal counsel, as parties are oftentimes not aware of what their rights and responsibilities are, much less what the current laws and trends are in regards to assets, liabilities, maintenance, child support, parental allocation and have difficultly navigating the mediation process without the simultaneous guidance of legal counsel.
Mediation is a confidential process where a neutral third party (the mediator) assists the parties in reaching an agreement regarding any unresolved or contested issues in their case. The mediator’s fundamental role is to facilitate a conversation between the parties and ultimately come to a mutually agreeable resolution of some or all of the issues by:
Mediation for domestic relations cases in Cook County, Illinois is governed by Cook County Circuit Court Rule 13.4:
Pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rules, mediation is required in any case where the allocation of parental responsibilities (either parenting time or decision-making), relocation, or other child-related issues (except child support) are in dispute. Parents may agree to a private mediator or utilize the court’s mediation services, or the court may appoint a mediator from an approved list of local mediators. In Cook County, parents are referred to Family Mediation Services for mediation if they cannot agree.
Mediation may also be utilized for non-child-related issues (such as disagreements over how debts and assets will be divided or maintenance), either by agreement of the parties or by court order. If the parties cannot agree on a mediator to assist in resolving these types of issues, the court will appoint a mediator from an approved list of mediators. Contact WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC, today to learn more about mediation services.
I knew we were going to have a custody battle from day one. It was going to be mean and messy and expensive and long. I did not know if I could handle it but I had to do it for my kids. Jennifer litigated my case to the end - we had an attorney for the kids, we had psych evaluations, we had reports for the Judge, we had court date after court date. She was strategic, smart, planned well ahead, and kept on top of everything. Thanks to her and her legal eagles my kids are in a…
We were not married but had two kids and we were both listed as the parents on the birth certificates. What I did not know at the time was that the birth certificate (for parents who are not married) does not count in Chicago! You have to have a paternity test or have signed some special paperwork at the hospital that we did not know about at the time. Ward Family Law prepared the court filings so that we could establish our parental rights. Thank you!
At the end of my divorce case I realized that the paperwork required us to provide the court with a Qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) in order for our retirement and investment accounts to be divided as we had agreed. The problem was that we did not have them done in time. Jennifer and her team stepped in and handled contacting the plan administrators, completing the draft QDROs, submitting them for pre-approval of everyone and then presenting them to the court. While we had hoped this was super easy there were a lot of steps and a lot of things…
From the very start I was nervous and scared about the entire divorce process and ending up with nothing. Jennifer and Emily guided me step-by-step through the process with patience. I realized that the more that I knew about my own finances and the finances of my marriage the more I would be comfortable going forward with the divorce. With their expertise I was able to move forward and finish my case with a settlement that was fair and allows me to feel safe going forward on my own.
In the middle of the divorce process I realized that my business was up for grabs. I worked my whole life to build this business and could not believe that I could lose it in the divorce. In steps Jennifer and she saves the day. Her knowledge of the law and her team's analysis of my company allowed us to work out a settlement of my overall marital estate that would keep my business in one piece and in my control. If you want a level head that knows what she is doing, then give Jennifer a call and let…
After years of getting the same amount in child support I heard that the laws had changed and we had not updated the child support numbers even though I knew my ex made way more money since it was all done. I did an initial phone consultation with Jennifer and she walked me through the process of a modification of child support. On the day that I signed on with Ward Family Law we hit the ground running to get the papers on file so that the clock would start ticking for the new child support number to apply. I…
I cannot thank Jennifer at Ward Family Law enough for her hard work on my case. We had a lot of issues but the number one issue after years of marriage was alimony. I knew that I should receive some money each month to balance everything out, but I had no idea how to make sure that I got it. Jennifer told me that alimony is called maintenance in Illinois. Well, there you go. I had the wrong term to even start with. It didn't matter though because Jennifer got all the income documentation and asked all the right questions…
The reviews were right! We were having trouble filing the divorce papers correctly. We knew that if we could not start the divorce process on our own there was no way that we could finish it on our own. We didn't have anything to fight over though. We already split up everything and we are on good terms. I hired Jennifer at Ward Family Law to take care of everything and it was so smooth and easy start to finish. Having a lawyer take care of our case made sure that things were done correctly so that we did not…
I am writing a review because I think a lot of times people make the same mistake that I did at the beginning of my case. I had a wonderful talk with Jennifer before my case started and I was very comfortable with her demeanor and her explanations of the Chicago Divorce process. I decided to go with another lawyer because the retainer was a little lower. Big mistake. I didn’t really like the lawyer when we spoke but I was more focused on the money instead of the big picture. I felt like there was no communication during my…
My Husband, now ex, and I wanted a friendly, fast divorce. We had nothing to fight about and nothing really to divide. We thought that would make it easy but when we saw all the paperwork we knew that we needed help. It takes one piece of paper to get married and 100 pieces of paper to get divorced in Chicago!! Ward Family Law made the divorce a smooth process for us and got it done faster than we thought. If you want to be friends with your ex but still want the divorce then look no further and call…
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