I agree with Jack and Keith. In the county I live in, it is mandatory for both parties to go to meditation and try and work out as much as you can yourselves. They do this to try and keep less of a load on the courts. My X and I went to a great mediator, and it worked out well for us. You have to be in the right frame of mind going in, because if one or both plan on being bull-headed and stubborn and have no desire to get this thing resolved and move on, your wasting your time with a mediator. On the other hand, you want to consult with an attorney as far as all of the legal issues are concerned, and there will be plenty of those.
One of my best friends is going through one right now, and it has been going on for a year and half. She is trying to make life miserable for everybody, and doesn't care how long it takes. Her attorney is $400/hour and I have no idea how she is paying for it. Between the both of them, they have spent over $100,000 on attornies fees as of about 1 1/2 months ago, and they are on their fourth day of hearings and testimony. They are supposed to be done on May 26. It is fuggin insane what they are spending. I think she is planning on him getting stuck with her attornies fees, but I don't think it will happen. Those numbers I stated above ought to be incentive enough to work as much out yourselves as you can.
