10 TIPS ON WHY PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT MEDIATION WORKS

1. You Discuss All of the Important Issues Well In Advance of Your Marriage.
   These frank discussions help solidify your relationship and make it less likely that you'll ever need to use your premarital agreement or prenuptial agreement. You'll have the help of a professional mediator who can help you tackle all of the issues. The mediators at Peace Talks are trained in mediation and communication, and can help you with your discussions.
   
   
2. The Agreement That is Drafted Reflects Both Parties' Input.
   When individual attorneys draft premarital agreements, sometimes they reflect only their client's wishes, without input from the other fiance, and as a result many changes need to be negotiated. By mediating the content of your premarital or prenuptial agreement first with Peace Talks, you are in agreement before the first draft.
   
   
3. You Have The Flexibility of Taking Time To Consider Your Options and How a Decision Might Affect Your Future.
   When you start to think about how you'd like for your premarital or prenuptial agreement to look well in advance of your wedding date, you can be sure to have time to really think things through. While the mediators at Peace Talks will complete all of the drafting work quickly, you'll be able to take as much time as you like to consider all the issues before signing.
   
   
4. Because You Participate In Each Decision, the Outcome is Tailored to Your New Family.
   When agreements are one-sided, they're not usually enforceable, plus you might start your marriage harboring resentment. Agreements made in mediation have a higher degree of compliance and success than those negotiated in a one-sided way, which means that the chance you'll ever need to use your agreement gets smaller and that if you do need your premarital agreement, that there's a better chance that your spouse will abide by it. And, if you do need your premarital agreement, you want to make sure it's enforceable. The mediators at Peace Talks will make sure that your agreement is balanced.
   
   
5. Part of Mediation is Learning To Communicate Better.
   This is especially important as you're adjusting to your new marriage. It's even more important when children will be involved. The mediators at Peace Talks are trained in communication techniques, and can help make sure everyone's concerns are addressed.
   
   
6. Premarital Agreement and Prenuptial Agreement Mediation is Confidential and Private.
   You can discuss the issues that are important to you in the privacy of the mediator's office, on your own time schedule. Even if you never sign an agreement, simply having the discussions about how you intend to handle your finances and your priorities will help insure that you won't ever divorce. The mediators at Peace Talks can't testify in court, so mediating at Peace Talks insures that your discussions are kept private.
   
   
7. You Choose the Topics to Discuss in Mediation.
   While there are typical elements of a premarital agreement or prenuptial agreement, you can also choose to talk about things like parenting issues, whether to have children, how to handle the checkbook, and other crucial issues that most premarital agreement negotiations ignore. In mediation, you choose the topics and the pace. The mediators at Peace Talks will help you identify the issues and make sure everything is addressed.
   
   
8. You Can Choose Your Mediator, and Work With Him or Her as Much or as Little as You Want.
   You pick the person, the credentials, and the level of involvement. Would a therapist be helpful in helping work through sensitive financial discussions, talking about whether or not to have children, or how to harmoniously blend a step-family? Would an attorney with some financial planning background be helpful in deciding how to divide assets? In addition to the trained mediators at Peace Talks (lawyers, therapists, paralegals) you can also choose to include other professionals in your mediation as consultants, like an accountant or tax advisor. Click here to view the Peace Talks mediators' bios and resumes:
   More about Diana Mercer
   More about Tara Fass
   
   
9. It's the Mediator's Job to Make Sure That Everyone Gets a Chance to Express All of His or Her Concerns.
   If you're concerned that your fiance won't listen to your concerns about the finances or the premarital agreement, your fiance can't understand why you feel a premarital agreement would be helpful, or you've been too shy to express yourself, your mediator at Peace Talks will help balance the power between the two of you. Read more about the 5 Myths of Premarital and Prenuptial Agreements
   
   
10. You Set the Schedule.
    The Peace Talks Mediation Services office is open during regular business hours as well as evenings and weekends by appointment. We schedule appointments in 3-hour time blocks (even though you only pay for the time you actually use) so that you get a chance to have a thorough discussion in just 1-3 mediation sessions, rather than multiple short meetings with your attorneys and costly back-and-forth over the telephone. California has a law that states that an agreement must be finalized at least 7 days before your wedding, but as long as you abide by this 7-day rule, you can begin your discussions as soon or as late as you wish. Cal Fam Code § 1615