The emotional and financial costs of the ordinary legal process for separation and divorce can be overwhelming and destructive. Bultz Law Offices offers a positive, affordable alternative to adversarial divorce, child custody, property division and other family law disputes.
Most litigated family court cases can take up to six to eight months for final resolution and many can take up to a year or more! In mediation, most cases can be resolved in one or two sessions and the finalizing process in court can usually be wrapped up in a matter of weeks!
While mediation is not free, it is only a fraction of the cost of litigation. Imagine two lawyers engaged in litigation each charging hourly rates of $200-$300 (or more) - costing the parties a total of $400-$600 per hour (or more)! Plus, huge retainers are required up front! Compare that to a mediator’s rate of (generally around) $175 an hour which is usually split between the parties! No retainer required!
Most couples going through separation or divorce are experiencing at least some animosity towards one another. The adversarial court system pits the parties against each other and will greatly magnify that animosity. If they don’t hate each other at the beginning, they almost certainly will when it is over. That bitterness will affect the children. In mediation, while the parties do not have to like each other, they will engage in a civil, methodical process designed to assist them in achieving resolutions that they deem to be fair and most practical under the circumstances. Plus, they know better than anyone else what is in their best interests - especially the children’s!
Jay Bultz is a trained and experienced mediator. He has over 15 years experience as a mediator - over 12 years as a family court mediator, and he has over 24 years experience as a trial attorney - including family court. He knows what parties can expect in litigation and knows that the better way to go is mediation!
For those couples who embark on a course of litigation, they will be required to participate in mediation anyway! All contested cases in Family Court in South Carolina are now required to go to mediation before they can go to trial. Why not start with mediation before the cumbersome court process begins, finances are committed and positions become entrenched? If it fails, the Court can still credit the attempt and waive the mandatory mediation requirement!
