Many mediations are about endings. At Agreement House Mediations, we understand that the most successful outcome is one that helps launch a new, more agreeable future.

Rather than being built on a law firm model, we developed Agreement House to make life easier for our customers using divorce mediators backed by legal and financial experts.


What happens with divorce mediators?

The setting:  At Agreement House, we start with a comfortable atmosphere – we encourage participants to dress casually, and we offer evening and weekend scheduling to help relieve the pressure of having to miss work. 

What if I don’t want to meet face-to-face with the other person?

No problem. Most of are mediations are NOT across-the-table negotiations -- rather, you and your spouse will be in separate rooms while we provide “shuttle diplomacy,” as our divorce mediators go back and forth, working toward creative resolutions.  You’ve had enough conflict; you’re at Agreement House for solutions, not conflict.


The mindset:  We understand that many of the subjects under discussion are painful, and we know that one or both of the participants will arrive hurt and angry. That’s okay. All we ask is that you arrive with at least a tiny portion of your mind open to discussion and agreement.


The process:  Although each mediation is unique, it usually starts with our divorce mediators offering guidelines for the conversations to follow, and offering descriptions of successful outcomes that could result.

Next, you’ll be asked to review for the mediator, and each other, the areas on which you agree, and the issues which still divide you.

Our divorce mediators then begin a series of separate conversations with each side – moving the two sides closer to agreement, and often coming up with creative solutions that allow for a new win-win outcome that you haven’t considered.


The outcome:  You reach agreement – and the beauty of mediation is that you reach an agreement together, proving that you are still able to work together toward making the best of a bad situation, and having that shared experience to build upon for any future issues that arise.

The mediator will then write up, on the spot, a summary of the agreement. This will then serve as a foundation for a do-it-yourself
divorce, or for the documents prepared by one of our attorneys.


What if we can’t agree?

You’ll be surprised at how skilled divorce mediators can create agreement, often by offering creative compromises. Still, there are times when the negotiation runs into a brick wall – an area upon which you and the other side dig in and can find no compromise. Here we can offer a marvelous option…

Rather than go to court, which could take many months and cost tens of thousands of dollars, our lead attorney-mediator, John Zarzynski, is a veteran arbitrator and is a judge pro tem (which means that the Arizona courts have appointed him to serve in the capacity of a judge).

At the end of mediation, if there is an issue or two that is unresolved, the mediator and participants can review the disagreement with John, and he can arbitrate, providing a quick resolution, without going to court.

 
The bigger picture – after the divorce

When we mediate, we aren’t just looking to solve the problems standing in the way of creating a legal document. Our goal is not just to put a stamp on a piece of paper and declare it over and done. No, we want to start the healing process, making it possible for you, once again, to move forward with your life.

Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural address, ended by appealing to the “better angels of our nature.” Lincoln understood that it isn’t a matter of defeating the other side, but calling to the best in the other side. That’s what we hope to accomplish for you -- to help you find your better angel, and for the other person in the discussion to do likewise, and to rise above old differences to find new agreements and new hope for a better future.