120 East Washington St., Suite 711, Syracuse, NY 13202
Hourly Rate for Services
If you seek the services of this mediation office in connection with the mediation of your Agreement, you will be asked to enter into a Mediation Agreement that includes the following terms regarding fees and services.
Mediation Session: You will be charged on an hourly basis according to the sliding scale below for the mediation sessions. Payments for the mediation sessions are made at the end of each session.
Sliding Scale:
Combined Gross Income: Hourly Rate:
- Under $50,000.00 $150.00
- $50,000.00 - $80,000.00 $200.00
- $80,000.00 - $125,000.00 $250.00
- $125,000.00 -$250,000.000 $300.00
- $250,000.00 and Above $350.00
Veteran Discount
Low Income Reduced Rate
Low Income Reduced Rate
We offer discounted mediation services to troops and veterans of the Gulf wars. Going through a divorce can be one of the most difficult times in life. Our hope is to give back to those who have served and to their families by offering a less expensive and more gentle approach to going through a divorce. Please contact our office for more information.
Low Income Reduced Rate
Low Income Reduced Rate
Low Income Reduced Rate
Financial strain is one of the leading causes of divorce. Many couples stay together because the expense of divorce is too extreme for their finances. Our office would like to offer those who make below the poverty level a reduced hourly rate. This rate will be on a sliding scale and determined by the couple's combined yearly income. Please contact our office for more information.
Forms of Payment
Low Income Reduced Rate
Forms of Payment
Payments for the mediation sessions are made at the end of each meeting based on the time that we spend together that day. You may make the payment by check, cash, or credit card. The credit card payment must be made in person. Credit cards accepted are Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.
The deposit for drafting the Agreement (that is written after you have made all the decisions) can be made by cash, or by check made payable to Christine Hickey. Any unused portion of the deposit will be refunded to you. If the deposit is not sufficient to cover the time necessary for drafting, an invoice will be provided to you for the balance due.
Mediator's Work between Mediation Sessions
You will also be charged at your hourly rate for services performed by the mediator
between meetings that may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Telephone calls, emails, conference calls between the mediator and the clients that are placed by or placed to the clients. Please note that the mediator will have contact with both clients;
- Telephone calls, emails and conference calls made or had on the clients’ behalf or related to the matter with third parties such as accountants, therapists and attorneys after permission is given by the clients;
- Preparation of all correspondents (letters to clients and others);
- Preparation of financial analysis in relation to child support and spousal maintenance as may be necessary;
- Preparation of financial analysis in relation to the division of assets and debts;
- Review of all documents including but not limited to pension plan documents;
- Conferences with other professionals such as accountants, evaluators, actuaries, appraisers and attorneys; and
- Any other time expended on behalf of, or incurred in connection with your matter.
Drafting Deposit
Work Following the Mediation
Work Following the Mediation
After you have made the decisions for your Agreement, you will be asked to make a drafting deposit before the first draft of the Agreement is written. The drafting deposit pays toward the cost of drafting the Agreement. If other legal documents such as court orders to divide retirement assets or deeds are required, an additional deposit may be required if the drafting deposit for the Agreement is not likely to be sufficient to cover the time required to draft these additional documents. The specific amounts and arrangements for the drafting deposit can be found in the “Retainer Agreement to Draft the Agreement and Other Legal Documents Following Mediation”. You will also be asked to sign the Retainer Agreement.
Work Following the Mediation
Work Following the Mediation
Work Following the Mediation
When all the decisions necessary for the Agreement have been made by you, upon your request, Christine Hickey will draft a legal Separation Agreement and other associated documents such as Domestic Relations Orders (to transfer retirement assets) as long as you have agreed to the terms of the Retainer Agreement to Draft Separation Agreement Following Mediation.
Cancelations
Work Following the Mediation
Cancelations
You will be charged for scheduled sessions that you do not attend unless you give this office a 48 hour advance notice of your cancellation unless it is due to an emergency. Please call the office (315-422-9756) and leave a voice message about your cancellation.
Miscellaneaous
- No charge will be incurred to schedule or change an appointment or to discuss an invoice;
- It is your responsibility to negotiate with your reviewing/advising attorney about his or her fee;
- Expenses incurred for expert advice (legal, accounting, appraisal, evaluator, etc.) will be your responsibility. This office may have a list of persons and organizations for your use as a resource for such expert information;
- If a summary of decisions or a partial agreement is requested by you, the charge for such a document will be based on your hourly rate and the time needed for drafting unless the mediator and the parties agree upon a different cost arrangement;
- Any unpaid balances due for a period of thirty (30) days or more will incur an accumulative monthly charge of 2% of the balance due; and
- Both clients will be held jointly and severally liable for all charges due associated with the mediation services including but not limited to the mediation sessions and the drafting services provided by this office.
Please read the Mediation Agreement for all further information on our services.
Financial Benifits of Divorce Mediation
Mediations Sessions are "pay as you go":
Generally, mediation sessions are scheduled in two-hour increments. At the end of each mediation session, you will pay for the time you were together with the mediator that day. At CNYMSI, the hourly rate is based on a sliding scale associated with your combined gross income. The sliding scale can be found in the Mediation Agreement located in this website.
Drafting the Legal Documents:
After you have made all the decisions and the Agreement can be written, you will be making a drafting deposit based on your hourly rate. Information about the drafting deposit can be found in the Retainer Agreement to Draft Agreement and other Legal Documents Following Mediation located in this website.
Go at your own pace:
When you mediate the terms of your Separation Agreement, you will be scheduling appointments with the mediator based on how quickly or leisurely you would like to move through the process. At CNYMSI, you will be paying for the mediator’s services as they are provided which allows you to spread out the costs over a time period that is comfortably affordable to you.
Use of one neutral third party (the mediator):
Rather than having two attorneys who represent each of you to negotiate your Agreement, in mediation you will be working with one mediator to facilitate your negotiations. Instead of two clocks ticking (one for each attorney), there is only one (the mediator’s).
CNYMSI strongly recommends that you each have an attorney who will review the proposed Agreement and advise you about its contents before it is signed. When you are consulting with your attorneys, the mediator is generally not performing any work on your behalf.
Use of Experts:
In mediation, when an expert such as a pension valuator, appraiser, business valuator, or degree valuator is necessary, mediation participants mutually agree upon the expert and hire one person to work for both of them in an impartial capacity. In this way, you can avoid hiring two experts with competing interests thereby avoiding duplicative costs.
If mediation is not successful:
If you begin mediation and do not complete the process, you may decide to hire your own attorneys to represent you. In this case, you will have spent some money on mediation and will then incur the expense of attorneys in negotiations and/or litigation.
Fees for the divorce:
After the execution of your Agreement, if you decide to file for divorce, you will incur filing fees at the County Clerk’s Office and if you hire an attorney to file, you will incur attorney’s fees for the preparation of your divorce papers (unless you prepare them yourselves). These services and costs are not included in the mediation process at CNYMSI and would be incurred whether or not you arrived at the terms of your Agreement in mediation.
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