Negotiation

David Siegel: Sure. We’ve mentioned on other shows, specifically dealing with divorce and litigation in general, that it’s always in your best interests financially, emotionally, to try and resolve some of these issues on your own instead of throwing them all on the door step of the court. Because that’s where it gets difficult, expensive, and you take the decision making out of your hands.

Jesse Barrientes: Right.

David Siegel: What kind of advice would you leave our Aurora listeners with, our viewers with on how to handle these difficult times when maybe the war isn’t over inside but you want to be fiscally smart in trying to take much of the case into your own hands as possible?

Jesse Barrientes: It’s always better for you to resolve something. And I would highly recommend that people go in – there’s other things that you can do. There’s private mediation even before you get to court to try to negotiate.

David Siegel: What is that? People need to know about this. What is private mediation?

Jesse Barrientes: What will happen is you’ll go to an attorney who is a trained mediator and both parties will come in and essentially you will negotiate the divorce before you file the divorce. There’s also what they call cooperative law movement where you’ll go in and they’ll have financial planners and other different kinds of people. Other experts that are involved to be able to negotiate things so that when you file the divorce everything gets filed at once and it’s settled. And you have control over the outcome.

David Siegel: Are you a trained mediator?

Jesse Barrientes: Yes. ____________county.

David Siegel: How does that work in your practice? How does that work with the mediation?

Jesse Barrientes: I tell you what, that has helped me with respect to my Aurora practice in terms of the way I deal with other people, in terms of the way I deal with other counsel. It’s in everybody’s best interests to resolve it. It’s not financially feasible most of the time to argue over something. I had somebody argue over these little lawn stakes, the little lights that cost $62. Just the phone call and just talking about it costs more than the landscape lights. I’m not a furniture attorney.

David Siegel: It used to be toasters and steak knives. Now it’s lawn lights.

Jesse Barrientes: True enough.

Divorce Book

Child custody

Written response on a child custody filing

Custody agreements

Parenting class requirement

Divorce court costs & fees

Guardian ad litem cost

604B evaluation

Fighting over child custody

Visitation