Hanauer Law: Your Smarter Route to Resolution

At Hanauer Law, each family mediation lawyer in Naperville offers a unique blend of courtroom insight, commitment to mediation, and collaborative support, including:

  • Inside Knowledge of DuPage Courts: Because we’re in the Domestic Relations courtroom weekly, we understand each judge’s mediation preferences and favored mediators.
  • Settlement-Focused Results: Roughly four out of five family cases conclude with mediated agreements, sparing clients unnecessary expense and anxiety.
  • Comprehensive Care: We collaborate with financial planners, co-parenting specialists, and mental-health professionals to ensure settlements work in real life as well as on paper.

Family Mediation Explained

In family mediation, a neutral facilitator helps loved ones settle disputes in a confidential, non-adversarial setting outside the courtroom. The relaxed atmosphere lets the parties craft creative terms beyond a judge’s authority, while the Illinois Uniform Mediation Act keeps discussions private. According to the American Bar Association, this adaptability supports healthier co-parenting and spares children the emotional strain of litigation.

Why Families Choose Mediation

Families often choose mediation to resolve a variety of important issues, such as:

  • Establishing or revising custody and visitation schedules
  • Allocating marital versus non-marital property
  • Negotiating support payments for children or spouses
  • Settling disagreements about moves or vacation plans
  • Handling post-judgment matters like education or healthcare decisions
  • Amending prenups or postnups
  • Coordinating long-term care and guardianship for seniors
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Divorce & Mediation by the Numbers

Divorce and mediation statistics reveal key trends at the state, national, and local levels, including:

  • Illinois’ provisional 2023 divorce rate stands at 1.2 per 1,000 residents (CDC)
  • Across the United States, the CDC logged 2.4 divorces per 1,000 people in 2022
  • In DuPage County, domestic-relations filings consistently exceed 4,000 each year, but compulsory mediation means the majority conclude without ever reaching trial (Illinois Courts Statistical Summary)
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Mediation Laws in Illinois

State law makes mediation the presumptive route for resolving most domestic relations issues. Section 602.10 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act directs courts to order mediation in parenting-time and parental-responsibility matters unless mediation is inappropriate. Complementing the statute, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 905 mandates that each circuit offer an approved mediation program for family cases and outlines the training mediators must complete.

Elevate Your Mediation Outcome With Hanauer Law

When you choose mediation, you choose control. Partnering with Hanauer Law ensures that control produces a durable, fair, and court-ready result.

Legal Precision

Having reviewed thousands of settlements, we fine-tune every provision to meet Illinois family-law statutes, Rule 905 standards, and DuPage protocols—so your agreement clears the bench on its first submission.

Strategic Road-Mapping

Leveraging deep experience and negotiation theory, we brief you on: asset appraisals, tax scenarios, and parenting-time models. You’ll know your best-case, worst-case, and fallback positions before the first session.

Protection Against Power Gaps

Whether the issue is wealth disparity, complex custody, or intimate-partner violence, we spot imbalance early and employ safeguards such as separate breakout meetings, compulsory financial transparency, trauma-sensitive pacing, and specialized consultants.

Future-Proof Drafting

Ambiguity breeds litigation. We craft crystal-clear settlement and parenting documents with triggers, enforcement options, and built-in dispute-resolution procedures—protecting long-term family stability.

Court Integration Made Easy

Our weekly presence in DuPage Domestic Relations courts means filings meet every local formatting and evidence rule. We guide your agreement from signature to final order quickly and efficiently.

Family Mediation FAQs

Is mediation automatic?

Is what we say confidential?

Who selects the mediator?

How much does it run?

Should I retain counsel?

What is the timeline?

Does this deal carry legal weight?

Is online mediation allowed?

What if talks fail?

Can fees be contingency-based?

Is mediation automatic?

For parenting-time or parental-decision disputes, courts must order mediation unless a disqualifying factor, such as domestic violence, exists (750 ILCS 5/602.10; Supreme Court Rule 905).

Is what we say confidential?

Yes. Under the Illinois Uniform Mediation Act, discussions are privileged; mediators cannot testify, and statements stay out of court except where safety threats arise.

Who selects the mediator?

The parents may agree on any Rule 905–qualified neutral. Failing agreement, the judge appoints someone from the approved list.

How much does it run?

Independent mediators in Naperville charge roughly $250–$400 per hour. Court programs use sliding fees and may waive costs for qualifying low-income parties.

Should I retain counsel?

Yes. Because mediators cannot give legal advice, your lawyer prepares you, guards your rights, and drafts the final enforceable documents.

What is the timeline?

Family cases generally settle within two to five sessions of about two hours each, spread over one or two months—a fraction of the year-plus a trial can consume.

Does this deal carry legal weight?

Once signed and entered as part of the judgment, it becomes a binding court order.

Is online mediation allowed?

Absolutely. Video-conference sessions are acceptable statewide, and DuPage courts honor e-signed agreements.

What if talks fail?

Litigation resumes. Mediation conversations remain off-limits in court, protecting candid dialogue.

Can fees be contingency-based?

No. Illinois forbids contingency arrangements in domestic matters involving support or property; billing is hourly or flat-fee.

Start Pursuing a Peaceful Resolution Today

By choosing mediation, you keep control instead of handing it to a judge. Schedule a confidential strategy session with a Hanauer Law family mediation attorney in Naperville and move toward an affordable, harmonious outcome.

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