Separation Agreement Mediation in Queens Brooklyn & New York City

Clarifying the terms of your separation without turning everything into a battle.

Separation agreement mediation is for couples who are no longer living as partners—or are preparing to separate—but want clarity and stability around money, property, children, and day-to-day responsibilities. Instead of leaving important details unspoken or fighting through lawyers, mediation gives you a neutral space to talk things through and turn your decisions into a clear, written agreement.

Who This Is For?

This service is for spouses or partners who:

Are separating or already living apart and need to define “who does what”
Want to separate finances, responsibilities, and living arrangements more clearly
Need guidelines around parenting schedules, holidays, and decision-making for children
Are not ready to divorce (or can’t divorce yet) but still need structure and security
Want more certainty than a handshake agreement, without jumping straight into full litigation

You don’t have to have every decision made. Mediation helps you turn a confusing transition into something more understandable and workable.

Common Situations & Pain Points

Many people seek a separation agreement because they feel:

Unclear about who pays for what, and worried about future surprises
Unsure how to handle rent or mortgage, utilities, or shared debt once they separate
Stressed about how time with children will be divided and how decisions will get made
Afraid that informal, verbal agreements will fall apart later
Pressured to “just sign something” they don’t fully understand

Mediation helps you slow down, name what matters to each of you, and build an agreement you both understand.

How Mediation Helps (Instead of Doing This Alone or Through Conflict)

A separation agreement can affect your finances, your housing, and your family for years. Doing it alone can feel overwhelming; doing it in conflict can be costly and exhausting.

Mediation can help you:

Talk through each part of your separation—money, housing, parenting, responsibilities—in a calmer, more organized way
Understand each other’s priorities and concerns, even if you don’t fully agree
Explore options you might not see when you’re stuck in frustration or fear
Reduce the amount of back-and-forth between separate attorneys
Create a clearer outline of terms you can choose to have reviewed and formalized

As your mediator, I:

Stay neutral and do not take sides
Help you identify all the key issues your separation agreement should address
Keep the conversation respectful, structured, and forward-focused
Work with both of you to put your decisions into clear, plain language you can actually understand

The goal isn’t a perfect arrangement—it’s a workable one that reflects both of your realities.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the cost of separation agreement mediation compare to hiring lawyers to negotiate everything?
In many cases, mediation is less expensive and less draining than having attorneys negotiate every detail on your behalf. In a traditional approach, each of you hires your own lawyer and pays separate hourly rates for calls, emails, and negotiations. Those costs can grow quickly, especially if there’s a lot of back-and-forth.

In mediation, you share the cost of one neutral professional working with both of you together. Sessions are focused on problem-solving and clarity. You can still involve your own attorneys to review or formalize the agreement, but mediation often lowers the total time, money, and stress involved. My current mediation rate is $250 an hour for Seperation Agreements.

Do we need to know whether we’re divorcing, or can we use mediation just for separation?
You do not need to have a final decision about divorce. Many couples use separation agreements when they’re taking space, adjusting to living apart, or not yet able or ready to divorce legally. Mediation can help you create stability and clarity in the meantime, with or without a plan for divorce.

Is a separation agreement the same as divorce mediation?
Not exactly. Divorce mediation usually focuses on resolving all the terms needed to finalize a divorce. Separation agreement mediation focuses on the practical and financial arrangements of living apart—who pays for what, where people live, how parenting works, and so on. Sometimes a separation agreement becomes a foundation for later divorce terms; other times, it simply helps you live separately with more stability.

Do you give legal advice or prepare legally binding documents?
As a mediator, I do not provide legal advice and I do not represent either of you. I can help you clarify your decisions and put them into clear, plain-language terms, and I can draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that reflects what you’ve agreed to in mediation. I do not file documents with the court or tell you what you should agree to.

Many clients choose to take their MOU to a paralegal service to turn it into a formal agreement and file it, or to their own attorney to review and finalize the legal documents.

Can we still use attorneys if we work on a separation agreement through mediation?
Yes. Mediation and legal advice can work together. You can use mediation to have the important conversations and reach substantial agreement, then ask your attorneys to review, advise, and finalize the legal language. This often reduces conflict and attorney time because you’ve already done most of the hard talking in a structured environment.

How many sessions will we need to complete a separation agreement?
It depends on how complex your situation is and how much you’ve already discussed. Some couples reach a clear set of terms in just a few sessions; others need more time, especially if finances are complicated or there are children involved. Early in the process, we’ll talk about what you want your separation agreement to cover so you have a realistic sense of timing.