Divorce Arbitration

Have questions regarding your divorce or need to schedule a no-obligation in-office consultation?  We have two ways to contact us!

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Divorce Arbitration Attorneys

There are four alternatives to going to divorce court to have a judge decide who should get what and who should pay what to whom.

  1. The parties reach an out-of-court settlement.
  2. The parties reach a settlement in mediation.
  3.  The parties reach a settlement using the collaborative law model.
  4.  The parties use divorce arbitration.

In the first three alternatives, the divorcing spouses get a say in how their case will end. They negotiate until they can reach a resolution that both find acceptable.

Arbitration is different. It is the same as going to court, except a private judge – an arbitrator – makes the decisions. Arbitration can be considerably less costly and quicker than the traditional divorce legal system and its evidentiary rules are less strict.

Generally, the arbitrator is selected by the parties’ attorneys.

The soon-to-ex-spouses sign a binding Arbitration Agreement, a full Hearing takes place, and the arbitrator issues a Ruling that is transformed into a final judgment, which is entered in Court. If a party is unhappy with the Ruling, he or she has little recourse.

Arbitration clauses have become quite common in almost all on-going and other commercial transactions, e.g., contracts, leases, employment agreements, etc.

However, arbitration is not commonly used in divorce. When it is used, the arbitrators typically require both parties to have attorneys present throughout the process. In addition, they are reluctant to rule on custody or other parenting issues. Arbitrators do not have the same expertise as mental health experts and are limited in their ability to determine what might be in the best interests of the children involved.

Contact A Divorce Arbitration Lawyer For Help

Both of our attorneys, J. Richard Kulerski and Kari L. Cornelison, accept arbitrator appointments and referrals from other members of the Divorce Bar.

We welcome hearing from you and we invite your questions. There is no obligation. No one will ever know that we spoke or what we discussed. Everything you say is privileged, confidential, and completely classified. We do not maintain a mailing list and will not contact you unless you ask us to.

Contacting us is easy!

Call 630-928-0600 

Email kc@illinoislegal.com

Click Here to submit a message through our contact form. 

If we are in court or in a meeting when you call, one of us will personally get back to you as quickly as possible. We are extremely discreet with callbacks and reply emails. Just leave your name and a secure email address or personal cell phone number.

Kari and Richard are staunch advocates of the non-court approach to divorce, and are also active and seasoned litigators with over 80 years of combined trial experience in the Illinois divorce courts of Cook and DuPage counties.