Stories From Our Practice

The names and some basic facts have been changed to protect the identify of the parties.

Mediation success story – Michelle and Edward

Michelle and Edward came to our office with a unique proposition. They were ready to file for divorce, but they wanted to work out a settlement which would allow them to remain in the marital home after the divorce, until their son graduated from high school. Edward owned his own company. Michelle worked part time for Edward’s business, but had predominantly been a stay at home mother. They had been married for nearly 20 years and due to the length of the marriage and the disparity in incomes, it was nearly assured that Edward would have to pay spousal support to Michelle.

Had they hired separate attorneys and litigated their divorce, Michelle and Edward, due to the spousal support and business valuation issues, would most likely spend a year in litigation and would have paid tens of thousands of dollars in attorney and expert fees.

Instead, during the following six weeks, we had a number of mediation sessions. We were able to assist them in reaching an agreement on all of their issues. We came up with a plan that would allow the parties to remain in the house together post-divorce, but also came up with an alternative in case it did not work out and the parties decided to separate. They also reached an agreement on a creative spousal support plan in which Michelle will be paid a certain percentage of the business income. This allowed Edward to continue to operate his business without causing him financial hardship and allowed Michelle to receive her share of the value of the business and spousal support.

Our office drafted a Mediation Agreement which contained all of the provisions of the settlement. They were able to take that Agreement to another attorney, who processed their divorce paperwork which incorporated the Agreement. They were divorced four months after their first meeting.

Collaborative Divorce success story – Gary and Linda

Gary, a doctor, came to our office because he had discovered that his wife, Linda, was having an affair, and he wanted to file for divorce. Despite being angry about the affair, he wanted to complete the divorce with minimal disruption for their two young children. Therefore, we recommended a Collaborative Divorce. He agreed and we provided him with the names of several collaboratively trained attorneys to give to his wife.

Had they hired aggressive attorneys to litigate the divorce, the civility between them likely would have been quickly destroyed as Gary’s attorney would likely have made an issue about the affair. This would have made conversations regarding custody very difficult.

Once his wife retained an attorney, the four of us met to exchange information and to create a snapshot of the marital assets. We agreed that we needed additional information regarding the value of certain assets, which the parties obtained themselves without the usual course of sending subpoenas or hiring appraisers.

After several meetings, the parties reached an agreement. In spite of the painful cause of the divorce, the parties were able to complete the process quickly and discretely.

Amicable Divorce success story - David and Claire

David and Claire are both doctors and had been married for more than 25 years. Due to their high incomes, they had several million dollars in investments, in addition to a large home and other real estate. David told us that he wanted to keep their finances private and we explained that a Collaborative Divorce would be suitable for their divorce.

Unfortunately, Claire had already hired an attorney who was not certified in Collaborative Divorce. However, the attorney agreed to complete the divorce amicably and without formal discovery. Instead of sending interrogatories, serving subpoenas and taking depositions, the parties exchanged documents regarding the values of their numerous assets. Once we had a complete picture of the marital assets, both parties signed affidavits swearing that all of the assets were included in the divorce.

From that point, the parties simply agreed to divide their assets equally and were able to draft the Judgment and obtain the divorce three months after the Complaint for Divorce was filed.

At Pitler Family Law, our Michigan divorce attorneys handle family law, divorce, child custody, parenting time, visitation, child support and alimony matters throughout the Detroit metropolitan area, including Farmington Hills, Livonia, Bloomfield Hills, Troy, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Rochester, Mt. Clemens, Dearborn, Warren, Southfield, and all of Oakland County, Wayne County, Livingston County, and Macomb County.