Become a Professional Mediator – Headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA, since 1993
Handicap accessible training venue: ZOOM live!
Texas Justice Center for Mediation and Arbitration in Bellaire off I-610 West Loop.
Ranch Office Conference Room and Virtual Office
Heights Mediation Center
Get started on your financial information.
The more work that you complete before the mediation,
the less number of hours you will need in mediation.
When divorce becomes unavoidable, use this unique interactive software to leave your marriage with your dignity intact and money in your pocket.
Don’t pay professionals for the preliminary work you can do.
Save money with Divorce Savvy
Don’t wait. Mediation saves time and money.
Bring these items with you to mediation
to save time and money:
* IRS returns for the past 5 years
* Pay stubs for the past three months
* Current photos of your children
* Insurance policies
* Savings Account statement
* Certificate of Deposit statement
* Pension plan explanations
* Home mortgage materials
* Credit card numbers and balances.
* Home tax info from the Harris County Appraisal District
* Any current info from current home appraisal or agents
* Photos and info of items to be divided, such as boat, RV, vacation home, art, antiques, favorite couch, pets, etc…
Read the following forms.
Copies will be given to you at the mediation to sign.
Divorce Mediation and Arbitration Cancellation Policy
If a divorce mediation or arbitration has been paid and scheduled, but the parties decide to not mediate or arbitrate for any reason,
there is no refund.
Family and Divorce Mediation
Why mediation, as opposed to litigation, will save you time, big money $$$$, and family decay:
Did you know that you don’t need to hire an attorney before you go to mediation for divorce?
Call us first at (713) 840-0828 ! Or email your question to Dr. Manousso.
We can help you find an attorney that will assist you in completing your divorce, after you have mediated your property and child custody issues. We believe in mediation, not litigation.
A brief glimpse of the divorce process in Texas.
Divorce mediation will not only save you and your spouse the considerable time and expense of an adversarial legal proceeding, but it will also shelter you and your children from the most harmful emotional effects of your divorce.
For these reasons, divorce mediation is a procedure that more and more divorcing couples are employing and Divorce Mediation Professionals, such as Dr. Barbara Manousso and Manousso Mediation mediators, are the professionals they are using to help them.
We don’t negotiate your divorce for you. We assist you to make the resolution plan. It is your life, isn’t it!
For information on the mediation process, click here.
Divorce Mediation in Texas
“Family mediation” means the mediation of disputes in actions for divorce, annulment, establishment of paternity, child custody or visitation, or child or spousal support.
Mediation programs can be very beneficial to people who are divorcing as well as to those who have long been divorced but who find themselves in a dispute in their post-divorce relationship. Not only can it save money but it promotes positive dispute resolution rather than adversarial procedures. That being so, it is well worth investigating by any couple facing divorce, a child custody fight, a visitation dispute, or other interpersonal conflict.
Mediation is a process that may help you resolve your case so you can have an uncontested divorce. Mediation is particularly useful in situations involving children, since it is in the interests of the children that their parents “get along” even if they will no longer live together as husband and wife. In the State of Texas, all cases that involve contested custody or visitation matters are referred to mandatory mediation, provided the parties are represented by an attorney and there is no allegation of domestic abuse.
Mediation attempts to change disputes from “win-lose” to “win-win.” Mediation is a non-adversarial process of helping people come to agreement on issues like parenting arrangements, support of children and spouses and division of real and personal property. Mediation occurs when a neutral third-party, who has training in dispute resolution, assists you and your spouse and helps you resolve the issues that are causing conflict and to make cooperative, informed decisions.
When to Use Family Mediation in Texas
Mediation can be used to resolve the entire range of family disputes either before a divorce takes place in order to consummate a marital settlement agreement, as well as after the divorce to resolve continuing disputes that might arise under a marital settlement agreement.
A history of abuse or allegations of abuse preclude mediation and the court will not refer for mandatory mediation of child custody or visitation any situation where abuse has been evident.
Mediation should not be used when there has been evidence of domestic violence or abuse or there is a great difference in power between the parties. For the mediation process to work there must be some degree of trust between the parties.
Mediation FAQ
What is divorce mediation?
Until the last 10 years or so, just about the only course for divorcing couples was to hire lawyers to do battle for them. Often the spouses would not even speak with each other, “communicating” only through their attorneys. And attorneys proliferated. The addition of “no fault” to divorce laws has given rise to an emerging alternative for divorcing couples: mediation. Mediation is the process in which the divorcing couple works out its problems, disagreements, and marital issues with a trained, impartial third party—the mediator. The mediator assists the couple in resolving its differences in a constructive way to reach a “win-win” decision rather than the adversative “winlose” situation.
What is divorce arbitration?
Arbitration is one of the many processes used to resolve disputes between divorcing parties. It is often used when couples have reached a stalemate in their divorce negotiations and wish to resolve the issues without going to court. Divorce Arbitration is an informal type of divorce trial where couples do not want to resolve their dispute in a public courtroom. The case is heard in a private setting before an Arbitrator. This setting is called an arbitration hearing and is scheduled at a time and place convenient to all parties, unlike a court trial, which is scheduled subject to a trial judge’s availability.
In Divorce Arbitration, the divorcing couple and their respective attorneys choose and agree upon an Arbitrator. If the couple is pro se, then they can chose a family arbitrator perhaps with the help of their mediator.
The Arbitrator is then presented with the specific issues preventing resolution. Only the defined, specific issues can be heard at the Arbitration. In Arbitration, divorcing couples may also define what procedure will be followed and how long the Arbitrator will have to render a decision, usually the decision is rendered within 10 business days. After a hearing, the Arbitrator renders a decision, called an award, on only the specific disputed issues. Unlike a court trial, the Arbitrator’s Award, in most cases, cannot be appealed. Divorce Arbitration can be used at any time in the adversarial process. The arbitration takes the place of an in-court trial or, in Collaborative Divorce or Divorce Mediation.
Benefits of Divorce Arbitration:
- Divorcing couples select the Arbitrator who will decide their issues.
- Divorcing couples have the option to select an Arbitrator who has specific experience in an area of interest, for example, taxes, real-estate value or management, etc.
- The Mediator is NEVER the Arbitrator for the same case. This is written out in the agreement to mediate and arbitrate.
- Divorcing couples define the specific issues to be addressed by the Arbitrator.
- Divorcing couples pick the day, time, and location of their hearing.
- Divorcing couples enjoy privacy, confidentiality, and a less formal setting in Arbitration, while avoiding the time, expense, and emotional distress associated with a trial in court. The Arbitrator’s opinion is final and legally binding. This opinion is in addition to the Mediated Settlement Agreement, not in place of it.
- Mediation and Arbitration are two distinct alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes, but both are helpful tools in divorce to save money, time, and emotional overflow.