Seattle Divorce/Family Law Mediator
Skilled Guidance for Divorce Agreements
Would you prefer making your own life choices for your future instead of being told what to do by a judge? Are you willing to do the work needed to reach agreements with your partner for the next phase of your lives? I help people reach amicable, mutually acceptable, agreements in their divorce or separation. I work with clients who wish to commit to constructively approach their divorce by working towards negotiated outcomes with transparency, integrity, and dignity. I use respectful approaches that help preserve the ability to co-parent in the future, ensure all have the information needed to make wise financial decisions, and prevent escalating conflict. I’m a Seattle divorce mediator, Collaborative lawyer, and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® with over 30 years of experience, skilled in helping clients with complex financial and parenting matters, who is dedicated to helping clients and their families stay out of court and plan for good futures.
Call (206) 622-6707 (or complete the contact form below) to learn if we might be a good fit.
Complex Property and Support Questions
Family Mediation
Parenting Plans and Co-Parenting
Child Support
Family Businesses and Divorce
Financial Analysis and Post-Divorce Planning
Mediation
Collaborative Divorce
Family LawChoose a More Respectful and Cost-Effective Divorce
Divorce can be hard enough even under the best of circumstances. Many find mediation to be an excellent choice for reaching a durable and mutually acceptable agreement by working with (instead of against) each other. This happens with facilitation by a skilled and experienced mediator, who can keep the conversation on track, and help you plan together to reach agreement for what’s next. (If more individualized support is needed to participate in discussions, then Collaborative Divorce may be an option to consider.) You have professional guidance from the very start to help you reach an agreement that satisfactorily addresses concerns, including property division, child support, spousal maintenance, and parenting. Ground rules help to ensure that all can participate, and you have the financial and co-parenting information needed to help you make the best possible decisions given your unique circumstances and priorities. Divorce Mediation can provide a safe environment so you and your spouse can work in the same room and reach thoughtful and reality-based agreements for your post-divorce future.
Experienced and Respected as a Seattle Mediator and Divorce Lawyer
My mission is to help my clients have the best possible divorce. For more than 30 years, I have helped clients address a wide range of issues with excellent outcomes. I help clarify and demystify the divorce process, and help to simplify the important decisions that only you make. Washington Law and Politics magazine rated me among the “25 best” family law attorneys statewide and I am recognized in The Best Lawyers in America. I am the 2005 recipient of the “Attorney of the Year” award from the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section, a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, rated “AV” (preeminent) by Martindale-Hubbell peer reviews, and have been selected annually since 2007 as a “Super Lawyer” by Washington Law and Politics magazine.
From my office in Lower Queen Anne (Uptown) near downtown Seattle and South Lake Union, I assist clients with divorce, separation, living together (cohabitation) agreements, prenuptial agreements, marital and family mediation (mediation that helps families get back on track), and mediating/facilitating matters that impact individuals and communities.
Call or email if you’d like to explore whether we’d be a good fit working together. Learn More About Mark Weiss
Divorce Mediation Can Be Better for Your Children
If you’re getting divorced, the best gift you can give your children is to create a healthy post-divorce co-parenting relationship with your co-parent. If you can do that, your children will almost certainly do better. The best of intentions may not be enough. It’s well worth the effort to do the work to create structures for smoother long-term co-parenting with your co-parent. Research shows that acrimony between parents has serious negative effects on children. Studies show that children who have exposure to parental conflict (whether or not the parents are divorced) have a significant increased risk of substance use, promiscuity, anxiety, mental and physical health issues, and lower academic achievement. Power struggles, court battles, and adversarial negotiation approaches tend to inflame power struggles and expose children to parental conflict, making it much more difficult for parents to work together as co-parents—with your children paying the price. Divorce Mediation can provide an excellent opportunity to put the conflicts behind you and lay the foundation for good post-divorce co-parenting structures—and a better, healthier, future for you and your children.