As a divorced parent, you may not be aware that modifying a child support order is possible even if you and your ex-spouse disagree. Mediation helps many couples negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement and avoid expensive litigation fees. A neutral divorce mediator assists parents to compromise and reach agreements on common issues in a courteous…

Most parents intend to put their children’s interests first and foremost during the divorce process. However, parents may lose sight of this goal as emotions intensify during the divorce, and communication between parents break down. Those coping with divorce experience the same stages of grief as those coping with the death of a loved one….

Agreements to child and spousal support are modifiable. Modifiable means that either party can request that the support be increased or decreased if there is a material change in circumstances such as the age of the child/ren, an increase in salary, a job loss, extended illness or disability. If the supported household got a high…

Making a Parenting Plan As mediators, we help work through all of the legal, financial, tax, and parenting aspects of divorce. During mediation, parenting arrangements (including legal decision making, time-sharing arrangements and child support) must be formulated1 for minor children. We also prepare a comprehensive Parenting Plan which includes provisions for child support payments, as…

August 12, 2013 – Phoenix, Arizona Learn About Phoenix Arizona Child Custody Procedures Video Transcript Oliver Ross, Phoenix Mediator: “Sole custody and joint custody, first of all, have nothing to do with how divorcing parents spend time with their children. It’s been a common misconception that, somehow, sole custody meant that one parent would have…

Child Custody and Child Support Mediation by Out-of-Court Solutions Video Transcript Oliver Ross, Mediator at Out-of-Court Solutions: “Hi. I’m Oliver Ross. I’m the founder of Out-of-Court Solutions. And for the past 18 years, I’ve been a full time mediator. Not only more effectively, but also less expensively because child custody, actually, that’s a misnomer now…

By Oliver Ross, JD*, PhD Early on in my career as a mediator it became apparent that grief is endemic to divorce. I realized that sooner or later virtually everyone going through divorce is to a lesser or greater extent bound to experience the stages of grief common to the loss of their marriage: denial,…

As a child and adolescent therapist and a mediator, I have worked with many families of divorce. Though each family’s experience is different, a common thread is that the higher the conflict and acrimony between the parents, the greater that child’s distress and difficulty coping with an already difficult situation.  At Out of Court Solutions in…

Following a divorce involving minor children, continued amicable communication between parents is essential for the best interest of the children. For this reason alone, mediation has benefits that extend beyond the communication surrounding the initial divorce.  For example, according to many former Arizona clients in Chandler, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tucson, and other cities throughout the Phoenix metropolitan…