Katherine G. Newcomer is an Approved Custodial Mediator for the Superior Court of New Jersey, Family Division, Vicinage XIII from 2004 to present. She has also been admitted to the New Jersey Roster of Economic Divorce Mediation by the Adminstrative Office of the Courts, Family Division.
She trained in Mediation with the Institute of Dispute Resolution in Montclair with Tina Rubinstein and Sam Margulies in 2001 and interned with the Institute for over twenty weeks.
She is an active member of the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators. Since 2008, she serves on the NJAPM Board in a Director position.  She has been the Chair of the Peer Mediation Committee since 2007, and also and served on the Nominating Committee. Since 2007, Katherine Newcomer also serves on the Board of Safe Harbor Access Centers - a non-profit organization for families in crisis. She also successfully completed the neutral training with NASD in NY, NY in 2003.  Katherine  has utilized this training in moderating numerous political debates. She is entrepreneurial in nature and has an extensive background in running small businesses - from developing a teaching studio to speaking at book clubs about her published novel.   A mother of two grown children, she brings to the 'table' a depth of life experience combined with excellent professional training.

 

         Contact Information:

        Katherine G. Newcomer, JD
        PO Box 247 
        Pottersville, NJ 07979
        Phone/Fax: 908-439-9140
   
      katherinenewcomer@comcast.net

Divorce Mediation Services - The non-adversarial alternative.   

During divorce, families need to resolve several core issues:

• Changing their living arrangements from one home into two;deciding about the care of the children;  arranging the family finances; and dividing the marital property. 

Divorce mediation offers a non-adversarial alternative to the traditional legal approach. Mediation helps couples and families through the difficult transition of separating and divorcing to the rest of their lives.  

• In the past, divorcing couples could only turn to lawyers who routinely resolve issues in an adversarial manner.  Families can become divided by battles about property, parenting, and support. The results can have long term, destructive consequences, especially if there are children involved.  

Divorce Mediation provides an equitable and efficient process in which the spouses resolve financial issues and agree upon a fair parenting plan for any children.  The divorcing couple keeps control of this process - the divorce settlement will reflect their wishes, and not be ironed out through hostile conflict, but through honest dialogue.  

The couple understands their family's needs far better than their lawyers, or a judge, should the divorce go to the most expensive route: litigation.   

• Mediation is efficient. The divorcing couple will resolve the issues in approximately eight to ten sessions that each last about an hour and a half.

• During this process, Katherine Newcomer, JD will help the couple to negotiate a fair and equitable agreement. As the mediator, she neither takes sides, nor makes the couple's decisions for them. Rather, her job is to help the couple to examine options and their consequences.

• In short, as a divorce mediator, Ms. Newcomer will assist the couple during this stressful time to be able to move forward in their lives. She helps the divorcing couple to shift their focus from the hurts of the past to the possibilities of the future.  One of the questions she will ask them to consider: "Where would you like to see yourselves in five years?" 

• This viewpoint helps them to see the larger picture and to create a better atmosphere for problem solving.  As in a traditional divorce, each spouse will need an attorney.  However, in mediation, the lawyers act as advisers rather than adversarial negotiators.  Early in the process, the divorcing couple is encouraged by Ms. Newcomer to seek legal advice about their rights and obligations. 

• Once the couple has negotiated their agreement, the mediator will write up their decisions in a memorandum of understanding (MOU.) The couple's respective attorneys will review this MOU. Once it has passed this process, one of the attorneys will draft the formal, binding settlement agreement and file for divorce.
  

• The divorce will then proceed through the courts as uncontested - saving the divorcing couple a significant amount of money as well as emotional distress. 

• The way in which a couple divorces will have a definite impact upon the rest of their lives and their children's. 

• The goal of mediation is to help the spouses have a 'good' divorce: where the parties are able to cooperate about the children and develop a good parenting plan, find mutual economic justice, and in time, to find emotional closure - to get to that place of emotional indifference, where 'It's over.' 

Recommended links:

Information about divorce:

Divorce Headquarters
www.divorcehq.com/
DivorceNet
www.divorcenet.com/
DivorceSource
www.divorcesource.com/

New Jersey Judiciary www.judiciary.state.nj.us
New Jersey Child Support Guidelines
www.judiciary.state.nj.us/csguide/index.htm
Opinions of New Jersey Courts
Rutgers School of Law- Camden
http://lawlibrary.rutgers.edu/search.shtml
"Parenting Time: A Child's Right"
www.dwdmediation.org/ParentingTimeAChildsRight.pdf