Neutral Experts

Two people reviewing information

In mediation, both Parties agree to jointly hire any neutral experts to help them get the information needed to make the best decisions.  By hiring one neutral expert, clients save money while maintaining control over their mediation process.  At Finding Common Ground Mediation and Law ServicesTM we have neutral experts who understand and support the mediation process.

Some examples of information that neutral experts can provide are:

  • Home appraisals
  • Business valuations
  • Retirement valuations
  • Tax advice

In litigation, each Party hires their own expert and then those experts are paid to testify in court if the case goes to trial. This is usually not worth the cost.

Certified Divorce Financial Analysts

A divorce can have a long lasting financial impact. A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) can offer many services to assist with the financial issues in your matter, such as: helping you understand the financial issues in your divorce; working with you and your Attorney Mediator to create budgets; assisting with understanding the short and long-term impacts of an agreement, and providing charts and graphs that give you a visual depiction of property division, cash flow, or support figures.

All of the CDFAs that we use at Better Solutions have at least 40 hours of mediation training and support our mediation process. Hiring a CDFA to help with financial issues in mediation can save clients money because the CDFA’s hourly rate is between $150 and $175 per hour which is less than the Attorney Mediator’s hourly rate. At Better Solutions, we are always looking for opportunities to save our clients money while giving them the highest quality results, and using a CDFA is one example of how we do that.

Mental Health Professionals

Mental health professionals are specially trained to help with co-parenting issues or other mental health issues that may arise during the mediation process. Your Attorney Mediator may suggest that you bring a mental health professional into your mediation process to join you at the mediation table.

Additionally, some mental health professionals are trained as divorce coaches and can provide support through your mediation process.

One Party or both Parties may choose to work with a mental health professional outside of the mediation process. This can also be discussed and agreed upon at the mediation table.

Other Professionals

Property Appraisers, Business Appraisers, Financial Professionals, Divorce Coaches, Accountants, Forensic Economists, Career Counselors and Real Estate Professionals are examples of professionals clients might use as part of their mediation process. At Better Solutions, we have developed working relationships with a wide array of professionals we can refer our clients to with confidence. All of the professionals we refer clients to understand and support the mediation process and know how to work with mediation clients in a neutral and collaborative manner.