|
Mediation of the financial aspects of marital dissolution tends to run
more smoothly if the clients come to mediation
-
with a good
understanding of their financial situation,
-
with all of their
Rule16.2 disclosure documents collected, exchanged and summarized
into a marital balance sheet, with their Sworn Financial Statements
fully prepared, and
-
ready for the
mediator to use his/her skills to help the clients identify and
discuss their needs and reach agreement about the division of
assets, maintenance, child support, and sharing of child-related
expenditures.
The CBIZ Litigation and Valuation Services group is available to support
mediators and their clients with the financial part of the mediation
process by compiling, analyzing and presenting the parties’ financial
information. Our process is designed to be efficient and inexpensive to
the clients, but provide needed information in a form that supports the
mediation process. We can work with either represented or unrepresented
clients. We would be engaged as a neutral joint expert, and would have
full transparency with both parties, their attorneys and the mediator.
Using our on-line data entry process, clients would complete a financial
disclosure document, which is similar to the Sworn Financial Statement.
(Parties may complete a paper-based version upon request, or if they
have their SFSs completed, we can work from those with some additional
data from the parties.) We will collect, review and organize their 16.2
disclosure documentation, and verify their data submission/SFS against
the documents to the extent possible. If there are errors or missing
information, or if we have questions regarding the data submitted, we
will bring this to the attention of the parties and the mediator.
Before the agreed mediation date, we will prepare a basic package
consisting of a marital balance sheet (including unassigned assets and
debts), draft Sworn Financial Statements (if needed), a side-by-side
monthly expenditure-by-category report showing net cash available after
tax, identified children’s expenses, projections of cash flow and net
assets, and a set of queries/issues for consideration during mediation.
We will also provide you with Excel spreadsheets of their budgets and
the balance sheet. Additionally, we will organize and return the Rule
16.2 documentation provided by the parties.
Unless requested by the mediator, we will not assist the parties in
mediating their settlement. We can attend mediation sessions if
requested to answer questions and run scenario options to assist the
parties to reach agreement.
Additional analysis, reports and support can be provided as determined
by the parties and the mediator. Our goal is to support you in your
work as the mediator in providing what you and your clients need to
reach agreements that are equitable, tax aware, and will be workable
financially.
For more information,
please contact Steve
McBride at 720 200 7011 or
smcbride@cbiz.com.
|
