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Flat fees, split two ways

Talk it out at one table, one flat fee each

Mediation for separating parents, coworkers, business partners and families deciding about a parent’s care. You see the price before you book, and the mediator takes neither side.

  • Court filing fees
  • Your own lawyer
  • Appraisers and outside experts
  • 3 hrs

    at the table with a neutral mediator, one flat fee each
  • 9 hrs

    across up to three sessions, with a written agreement, one flat fee each

What’s crossed out above is paid separately. Each of you pays your own share, and the fee is set before you book.

Nadine Marchetti, a mediator with short dark hair in a black blazer, seated at a desk in front of a brick wall

What it costs

A flat fee per person, so each of you can see your share

Each of you pays the same flat fee for your own seat. The first call is 20 minutes and costs nothing, and the flat fee we quote is the fee on your invoice.

  • One session

    Three hours with one mediator, for a disagreement with one or two things left to decide.

    • A private 20-minute intake call with each of you
    • Three hours at the table with one mediator
    • A one-page summary of what you settled
    • A formal written agreement
    • Your own lawyer
    Term:
    Flat fee per person
  • Full mediation

    Includes the agreement

    Up to three sessions and an agreement you both sign, for separations, partner splits and care plans with several parts.

    • A private 20-minute intake call with each of you
    • Up to three sessions, nine hours in all
    • A written agreement drafted for both of you
    • One round of changes after your lawyers read it
    • Court filing fees
    • Appraisers and other outside experts
    Term:
    Flat fee per person

Fees are per person. Court filing fees, each person’s own lawyer and any outside expert are paid separately.

Where we help

Four disagreements that settle better at a table

Choose the page nearest to your situation. Each one covers who comes, what gets decided and how a session runs.

  • A father and two children eating breakfast together at a wooden kitchen table

    Separating, with or without children

    Parenting time, support and the house, agreed in writing rather than argued in court.

    Divorce and separation
  • Two coworkers talking by a window, one holding an open folder and the other a notepad

    Two people at work who can’t reset

    A manager and an employee, or two coworkers, working out how they’ll share a floor.

    Workplace disputes
  • Two men in shirts and ties smiling at each other across a table with a laptop and coffee

    Owners who have stopped agreeing

    A buyout, a client list or a family company, divided without a lawsuit.

    Business owners
  • A younger woman hugging an older woman from behind on a sunlit path

    Siblings and a parent’s care

    Where Mom lives, who pays and who decides, settled before the next crisis.

    Family care

After the signing

What people say once both of them have signed

“We had stopped speaking about the schedule. Two sessions later we had a calendar we could both keep, and the bill matched the page.”

Jonah K.Co-parent, West Des Moines

“My partner and I sat across from a mediator instead of a judge. We divided the client list in one afternoon and still say hello.”

Marguerite T.Co-owner of a design studio

“My brother and I argued about Mom’s house for a year. A neutral person writing our worries on a whiteboard changed the tone.”

Dale R.Adult son, Ankeny

Each person’s matter is different. What one pair settled says nothing about what yours will.

Before you book

Five things people ask before they ask the other person

Does the mediator decide who is right?

No. A mediator doesn’t rule on anything. Their job is to keep the talk useful and the notes accurate. Whatever you agree is yours, and nothing is final until you both sign.

Do the two of us have to sit in the same room?

Not if you’d rather not. We can meet in separate rooms, or on a video call, and carry proposals between you.

Can each of us bring a lawyer?

Yes, or call one between sessions. The mediator doesn’t give legal advice to either of you, so we suggest each of you has a lawyer read the agreement before you sign it.

What happens if we can’t agree?

You stop, and you’ve paid for the time rather than an outcome. You keep every option you had before, including court. What is said in mediation is generally kept confidential, with limits that depend on where the dispute is.

What does the price leave out?

Court filing fees, a lawyer for either of you, and anyone we bring in for an appraisal or an expert opinion. We tell you before booking anything outside the fee.

Write to us

Tell us who is on the other side of the table

A few lines about the disagreement is plenty. If the other person is willing, we’ll invite them to the call. You don’t need their agreement to write to us.

HoursMonday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Keep confidential details out of this form. Writing to us doesn’t make us anyone’s mediator or lawyer.