Mediation or Settlement Conference for Divorce & Spousal Support in Tarrant County

Should you try mediation or a settlement conference in a divorce proceeding or family law case?  Recently that was a decision I had to make with a client.  We were set for to mediate his divorce that is pending in Tarrant County, Texas.  The issues to be mediated included custody, visitation (also known as possession), division of property, division of debt, and alimony (also referred to as maintenance or spousal support).

Both parties and the divorce lawyers showed up for the mediation on time and the mediator called to say he was ill and unable to attend.  We had the option to either reschedule the mediation or attempt to settle the case ourselves.

In an attempt to save our clients money and make the best use of our day we decided to try a settlement conference.  For a majority of the day our clients stayed in their respective conference rooms while opposing counsel and I would meet in a separate room to discuss issues before conferring them privately with our clients. 

The day began with the issue of custody.  The parties were able to immediately reach an agreement on joint managing conservatorship which is the preferred arrangement by the courts unless a parent is clearly incapable of working with the other parent on raising their child. 

The next issue was the visitation or possession schedule.  While the Texas Family Code sets forth a standard visitation schedule in the event that parents are unable to agree to a different arrangement, most parents feel that the standard schedule does not fit the needs of their family and most importantly the children.  After an hour of negotiating we were able to make an agreement for a visitation schedule that is very unique but addresses the concerns of each parent in this case and is in the best interest of their child.

Child support was set according to Texas guidelines.  However, the issue of back support was a contested issue between the parties and after a lengthy discussion we were able to reach an agreement to that issue as well.

The final issues to resolve were the division of assets, debt, and spousal support.  Again, the parties with the aid of opposing counsel and myself were able to eliminate the payment of spousal support by husband to wife by allotting the wife more money in the division of the retirement accounts.  This was a great settlement for my client because not only did he avoid paying spousal support, the wife took less money overall because she wanted the immediate access to funds in her retirement account.

By the end of the day we reached a settlement as to all issues and prepared an Irrevocable Rule 11 Agreement to include all of the agreements.  The attorneys will be preparing the divorce decree and other supporting documents and in a couple of weeks we will be able to finalize, or “prove up”, the divorce.

For more information about divorce, custody, division of debts and assets, spousal support, and child support contact the Setzer Law Firm PLLC at (817) 907-3355 for a consultation.