Resolve Your Divorce Peacefully

When you choose a divorce mediator, you are choosing a private, confidential party to help you address your divorce issues. We work with both sides in a divorce to solve problems without fighting. A working solution, built through a collaborative process is a solution that lasts.

Orange County Mediation Lawyer

Protecting Families in LA County, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, and Santa Barbara

Kevin B. Gibbs has over 25 years of experience working with clients to navigate mediation in Southern California. Attorney Gibbs will take a compassionate approach to your situation and help you prepare to voice your goals and interests in mediation as you discuss disputes with your spouse. For trusted and professional advocacy for you and your family, consult Kevin B. Gibbs today.

Mediation can help parents negotiate a mutual agreement with each other on child and spousal support based on California’s guidelines. An experienced support mediation attorney like Kevin B. Gibbs can help spouses prepare for these negotiations by outlining their goals and needs, as well as by assessing their financial situation that may speak to their ability to pay and how much. Note that the more cooperative the parents, the more successful mediation (and co-parenting) will be.

Divorce Mediation

Mediation is a common approach for couples to take to resolve their divorce disputes. More specifically, divorce mediation is where an impartial third-party person (the mediator) helps spouses reach an agreement they can both accept about relevant divorce issues. Divorce mediation typically entails several meetings between spouses, where they will discuss the issues that need to be resolved in the case before heading to court if necessary. Mediation may be desirable, as in mediation only the spouses involved in the dispute have decision-making power and not, say, a judge (or the mediator).

While mediation may not be able to resolve every single issue on the table, it can at least resolve some issues so that the couple can concentrate on fewer issues in court. Mediation can work for divorcing couples who seek to attempt discussion without the court’s intervention. Both cooperating couples and even families with high-conflict divorces can benefit from divorce mediation, as litigation often results in conflict, and mediation creates an environment for more personal discussion.

With the help of a divorce mediator like Attorney Kevin B. Gibbs, who is also an experienced divorce lawyer, couples can negotiate their own settlement and learn the techniques for resolving future differences. So, mediation allows couples to retain control over the decisions that affect their post-divorce lives.

Our Areas of Focus

Exclusive to Divorce Mediation

Support Mediation

Child support addresses the costs of raising a child after a divorce, and spousal support (alimony) is payments made from a higher-earning spouse to the other to facilitate the transition from a two-income household to a one-income household. Spouses can draft their own support agreements in mediation without the influence of the court, as long as they submit the plan to the court for approval.

Child support payments are generally paid monthly until the child turns 18 years old, and the amount will depend on the non-custodial parent’s ability to pay. Spousal support payments in California can fall under 3 categories – temporary, rehabilitative, and permanent spousal support – which determine how long payments will last. Visit the Support Mediation page for more specific information on how calculations for payment amounts are determined.

Property Division

Another important topic of discussion in mediation relates to property division. The most important step to dividing property is figuring out what is community property and separate property. Assets and debts that spouses acquire during marriage belong equally to both of them and are considered community property, so they must divide them equally in a divorce. Property one spouse owned alone, before the marriage, or acquired by gift or inheritance during the marriage, though, is considered that spouse’s separate property and is generally not divided in a divorce.

Note that a spouse may change a separate asset into a community asset without meaning to by combining (“commingling”) separate property with community property. This might occur if a spouse makes deposits to the other spouse’s premarital bank account during the marriage or if both spouses pay the mortgage of a house technically owned by only one spouse.

Spouses can divide assets by assigning certain items to each other, allowing one spouse to “buy out” the other’s share, or by selling assets and dividing the proceeds. They can also agree to hold property together even after the divorce, which is commonly the case when parents agree to keep a family home until children are out of school or keep investment property hoping that it will increase in value.

Contact Kevin B. Gibbs

Get In Touch With Us

If you are pursuing mediation to resolve your divorce or family issue in Southern California, contact an experienced mediation lawyer for legal support to guide you through the process. Successful mediation requires cooperative communication between spouses, which may be difficult in the face of tough negotiation topics like child custody and property division. Kevin B. Gibbs has extensive experience helping clients prepare and work through mediation, so you can trust that you will have a trusted and professional mediation attorney by your side with Attorney Gibbs.

505 S. Villa Real Drive,
Suite 213
Anaheim, CA 92807
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Contact Us 714-710-8834

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Our Testimonials

See What Clients Are Saying

“I used Mr. Gibbs for my divorce. He was great, very knowledgeable and professional! He was excellent at letting me know the options I had and pointing me in the best direction. He was upfront and honest about outcomes. I was very happy with his service.”
- Joshua L.
“I could not have asked for a better experience in the midst of a bad situation than working with Mr. Gibbs. He was honest and fair and patient and kind.”
- Rebecca S.
“From the get go of the consultation, Mr Gibbs was compassionate and knowledgeable. Not once did he offer information that wasn't accurate and his advice was fair to all parties. (Because it is truly about the children's best interest)”
- Brenda D.