Seattle Divorce Mediator-Attorney
Skilled Guidance for Divorce Agreements
Would you prefer making your own future life choices instead of being told what to do by a judge? Are you willing to do the work necessary to reach agreements with your partner? I help people realize amicable agreements in their divorce or separation. I work with clients who wish to commit to approach their divorce constructively, by working towards negotiated resolutions with 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, and dedicated to helping clients and their families stay out of court and reach better outcomes.
Call (206) 622-6707 (or complete the contact form below) to learn if we might be a good fit.
Complex Property and Support Questions
Negotiation Coaching
Parenting Plans
Child Support
Family Businesses and Divorce
Financial Analysis and Post-Divorce Planning
Collaborative Divorce
Mediation
Family LawChoose a More Respectful and Cost-Effective Divorce
Divorce can be hard enough even under the best of circumstances. Many find either Mediation or the Collaborative Divorce process to be an excellent choice for reaching a negotiated divorce settlement by working with, and not against, each other. In Mediation or Collaborative Divorce, 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. You get the skilled support you need, including the financial and parenting information needed to help you make the best possible decisions given your unique circumstances and individual priorities. Both the Collaborative Divorce process (with trained Collaborative Divorce attorneys) and Divorce Mediation (you and your spouse working in the same room with a mediator) can help provide a safe environment for discussions together, so you can make thoughtful and reality-based agreements for your post-divorce future in a civilized manner. Each of these processes offers different types of support, so you and your spouse can choose which will be best suited to help you successfully reach agreements.
Experienced and Respected as a Seattle Mediator and Divorce Lawyer
My mission is to help my clients have the best possible divorce. For over 30 years, I have helped clients address a wide range of issues with excellent outcomes. 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 for the “Super Lawyers” list 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
Mediation or Collaborative Divorce 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 ex-spouse. If you can do that, your children will almost certainly do better. It’s worth the effort to do the work necessary to create the structures for healthy co-parenting through agreement with your co-parent. Power struggles, such as court battles, tend to perpetuate conflict and undermine working together as co-parents; battles between parents also have negative effects on the children. Studies show that children who are exposed to acrimony are at increased risk of drug use, promiscuity, anxiety, and lower grades. Court battles and adversarial negotiation approaches tend to inflame power struggles. It’s more difficult for parents to be able to work well together as co-parents following a court battle or adversarial negotiation approach, and the children then inevitably pay a high price. Divorce Mediation or Collaborative Divorce (with specially trained Collaborative lawyers) can provide an excellent opportunity to lay the foundation for good post-divorce co-parenting and a better, healthier, future for your children.