Arizona Divorce - Mediation - Assisted Divorce

Agreement House approaches divorce in a unique way, joining mediation and legal counsel to give you the smoothest divorce process possible, with all of the benefits of hiring an attorney and of doing it yourself. We call the process Assisted Divorce.

After you and your spouse come in for a Divorce Options Review & Assessment, and you are prepared to negotiate terms, we can pair you with a mediator who will prepare your decisions, smooth over any rough spots and then have your documents reviewed by one of our attorneys before submitting them to the courts.

Within two months, your introduction, mediation, review, processing and filing can be done and once approved by the court, your divorce is complete - all with less cost, stress and time.

Georgia focuses on Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO) and Appeals, and is one of the attorneys in Arizona who can assist you with financial and tax document processing that are unrelated to your divorce decree, particularly in the case of retired couples.

A QDRO or Quadro court order will enable the retirement plan administrator to pay the non-employee spouse's share of the retirement benefit directly to him/her so that the person receiving the funds bears the taxes on the funds received and an early withdrawal penalty is avoided.

Sometimes, the retirement assets are one of the biggest assets a couple owns. Georgia can work with you to equalize those assets, or divide them as you agree, in the most efficient way possible to minimize the paperwork and fees involved. Retirement assets can often provide creative ways to settle the financial part of your case, where fear of withdrawal penalties and other factors may have been a hinderance in the past.

John is a Certified Family Law Specialist, has been a Judge Pro Tem of the Maricopa County Superior Court since 1989, frequently lectures on divorce related topics to members of the State Bar of Arizona, and has been involved in various committees through the State Bar including the Continuing Education Committee and the Family Law Certification Commission.

John is not simply an academic, having tried hundreds of divorce cases as Judge Pro Tem in the Maricopa County Superior Court since 1989, and overseen hundreds of mediations he firmly believes that mediation gives couples the best opportunity to control their own destiny and to experience the divorce process in a positive way.

Georgia and John have also been married to each other for over 20 years and have three children, so they understand the complications that married life can offer. They also have over 50 years of legal experience between them allowing them to temper accurate and experienced legal advice with an understanding of the rigors of marriage.

Frank Gaunt is a non-lawyer mediator who brings a unique background to his work with Agreement House. Frank has spent over twenty years working with children and family issues, has worked as a therapist, and was also the Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Child Welfare Services for La Causa, Incorporated.

Although Frank focuses on children and family issues, he is an accomplished mediator for all issues that are important to married couples trying to sort out their divorce and move on.

Read his Do's and Dont's of how to help children in a divorce.

Dale began his career in mediation two decades ago with the Arizona Attorney General's Mediation Program, a program designed to resolve cases for the Justice Courts and the office of the Registrar of Contractors, reducing the number of cases that were brought to court. Dale has since completed training at the renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, the national leader in mediation training.

In addition to his mediation work, Dale writes newspaper columns nationally syndicated by King Features. He also does creativity training and coaching with organizations around the country, and has worked with Caterpillar, General Dynamics, NASA and many other companies, and brings that creative energy to his mediation work.

Dale is also an accomplished author with material that covers a wide range of business issues and topics.

Dale is a member of ACR (Association for Conflict Resolution), holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Arizona State University, and did additional graduate work at Stanford University. He is a founder of Agreement House and is in charge of the Business Mediation portion of Agreement House.

View his Arizona Business Mediation Blog.

Read his article on 8 Principles of Aggressive AgreeAbility.