Carle Place Divorce Mediation
A Carle Place divorce does not have to mean two lawyers and a year of court dates in Mineola. Our attorney-mediators sit down with both of you, settle the house, the children, and the retirement accounts, then draft and file every paper the court needs. Most couples never see the inside of the courthouse.
Less Money. Less Time. Less Stress.
If you and your spouse are willing to work amicably, mediation resolves everything a litigated divorce does — at a fraction of the cost.
The Cost of Mediation vs. Litigation
No hidden fees, no open-ended hourly billing. Here is how the numbers compare for a typical Long Island divorce.
*Most mediations are completed within the retainer. Occasionally a mediation runs a few hours beyond it when substantial assets — pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs — are involved. With children under 21, the retainer starts at $4,500.
*Combined hourly total for each spouse’s divorce attorney. **Based on the average cost of divorce attorneys in New York State plus required court fees.
How Divorce Mediation Works
Six steps, from your first conversation to a finalized Judgment of Divorce — without a single court appearance.
Free Consultation
Both spouses meet with us together — mediation is unbiased, so we never discuss your divorce with only one party present. We answer your questions and quote a flat retainer.
Schedule Your Sessions
You set the pace — as quick or as measured as you both want. Seven Long Island offices and evening appointments make sessions easy to fit around work and family.
Mediate Every Issue
A neutral attorney-mediator explains New York law on each issue — custody, support, the home, retirement — and facilitates the conversation until you reach agreement.
Agreement Drafted
We draft your Stipulation of Settlement — the binding agreement that captures everything you’ve decided, in the form the court requires.
We File All Court Paperwork
Every ancillary document — including the Findings of Fact and the Judgment of Divorce — is prepared and submitted to the court by our attorney-mediators.
Judgment of Divorce
Your divorce is finalized without you ever setting foot in a courtroom — and without the strict deadlines a judge would impose.
What We Settle for Carle Place Couples
The six issues that can come up in Carle Place mediation, and what we do about each one.
“She advocates for you and helps you see past the emotion. She’s the one you want on your side.”
Google review — client of Riley Perry
Your Carle Place Divorce Is Filed Two Miles Away in Mineola
Many mediators hand you a signed agreement and a list of court forms. Ours do not. The attorney-mediator who ran your sessions drafts the stipulation of settlement, the findings of fact, and the judgment of divorce, then files all of it with the Nassau County Clerk at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola, two miles from the Carle Place station. Court fees are $335. Nothing is handed back to you to figure out.
The case is assigned to a matrimonial part at the Nassau County court complex at 101 County Seat Drive, where the Matrimonial Center moved in June 2025. In an uncontested case the judge reviews the papers and signs without a hearing. Because our mediators practice divorce law in that building, the papers are drafted the way those parts expect to see them, and a file that is complete the first time is signed months sooner than one that is sent back.
Our Mineola office is a few blocks from the courthouse. For a Carle Place couple, the whole divorce happens within three miles of home.
A Highly Rated Divorce Mediation Service
A Carle Place Cape Is Usually the Largest Asset on the Table
Most Carle Place houses are Cape Cods that Levitt built in 1947 and 1948 on 5,000 to 7,000 square foot lots near the station, many since dormered and extended. Typical home values passed $860,000 in 2026, so for most couples the house is worth more than every other asset combined. In litigation it is the asset two attorneys bill the most hours over. In our mediation it is usually settled in one session.
We get a current appraisal and check it against recent Carle Place sales rather than an online estimate. We run the refinance numbers for the spouse who wants to stay, including a property tax bill that often exceeds $10,000 a year, so the decision is made on real figures. Then we write the buyout: paid from the refinance, offset against a pension or retirement account, or paid over time, in language the lender and the court will both accept.
If selling is the better answer, the agreement sets the listing terms, the timeline, and the split of proceeds, so neither spouse can stall the sale.
Your First Meeting at Our Mineola Office Is Free, and You Both Attend
Sessions are held at our Mineola office at 1539 Franklin Avenue, a short drive from Carle Place. The first joint consultation is free. Both spouses meet the attorney-mediator, who explains how New York law treats each issue, lists what has to be decided in your case, and tells you what the mediation will cost and roughly how many sessions it will take. You leave with a document list: the deed and mortgage statement, three years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, pension statements, and the children’s school information.
Evening appointments are available, and sessions are scheduled around hospital shifts and the commute from the city, so neither of you chooses between the mediation and the job that pays for the house. Spanish-speaking couples are mediated in Spanish. There is no obligation to continue after the first meeting.
We Keep Your Children in the Carle Place Schools
Carle Place has its own school district, one of the smallest in New York, on a single campus made up of Cherry Lane School, Rushmore Avenue School, and the Middle/High School. The district also covers small parts of the villages of Westbury and Mineola, so a move of a few blocks can put a child in a different district.
Parents who come to us almost always want the children to stay. We write it into the custody agreement: which parent’s address is the residence for enrollment, how the parenting schedule keeps the children close to the campus, and what happens if that house is sold. If neither parent can stay in the district, we set the transition at a natural grade break, such as the move to seventh grade, so it is planned rather than forced. A judge deciding custody in a contested case does not plan around a school calendar. We do.
We Draft the Pension Order With the Agreement, Not Years Later
Carle Place sits between the county seat in Mineola, NYU Langone Hospital Long Island, and Roosevelt Field, and many households here include a county or school employee with a state pension, a nurse working twelve-hour shifts, or a manager working retail hours.
The marital share of a New York State and Local Retirement System or Teachers’ Retirement System pension is divided by a domestic relations order that the retirement system has to approve. The order must state the formula, the cutoff date, and whether the former spouse keeps a survivor benefit. We draft that order as part of your agreement and submit it with the judgment. Many mediators and online services stop at the stipulation, and the spouse owed a share finds out at retirement that nothing was ever filed. Parenting schedules are written the same way, around the real calendar: rotating shifts, weekend retail hours, and the LIRR commute from the Carle Place station.
What a Typical Carle Place Mediation Looks Like
A couple married fourteen years, one working for Nassau County in Mineola and one in Garden City, with two children at Rushmore Avenue School and a cape near Westbury Avenue bought in 2012. Session one lists the issues and the documents. Session two settles the house: the county employee keeps it, refinances, and pays half the equity from the refinance and an offset against the pension. Session three sets the parenting schedule around the county work week and names the Carle Place address as the school residence. Session four runs child support on the New York guidelines and reviews the signed agreement.
Four sessions fits within the initial retainer, which is where most of our mediations finish. We file the papers at the County Clerk on Old Country Road, and the judgment is signed in Mineola a few months later without either spouse appearing.
Seven Convenient Locations
From the South Shore to the East End — with affiliated offices in Nassau County — there’s a mediation office near you.
Babylon · Suffolk
57 W Main St, Suite 220Babylon, NY 11702
Hauppauge · Suffolk
1300 E Veterans Memorial Hwy, Ste 320CHauppauge, NY 11788
Huntington · Suffolk
100 E Carver St, Suite 3Huntington, NY 11743
Patchogue · Suffolk
76 Medford AvePatchogue, NY 11772
East Hampton · Suffolk
9 Willow LnEast Hampton, NY 11937
Mineola · Nassau
1539 Franklin AveMineola, NY 11501
Carle Place · Nassau
1 Old Country Rd, Suite 265,Carle Place, NY 11514
Proudly serving couples throughout Long Island — including Smithtown, Garden City, Islip, Brookhaven, Bay Shore, Commack, Ronkonkoma, Mineola, Riverhead, and the surrounding Long Island communities.
Frequently Asked Questions About Divorce Mediation
Where is a Carle Place divorce filed, and which court signs the judgment?
The papers are filed with the Nassau County Clerk at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola. The case is heard in the matrimonial parts of Nassau County Supreme Court at 101 County Seat Drive, Mineola, where the Matrimonial Center moved in June 2025. A mediated divorce is filed as uncontested, and the judge signs the judgment on the papers without a hearing.
Do we have to go to court if we mediate in Carle Place?
Usually no. Once both spouses sign the settlement agreement, the divorce is filed as an uncontested case and the judge reviews it on paper. Neither spouse appears unless the judge has a question about the agreement, which is uncommon when the papers are complete and the support numbers follow the New York guidelines.
What are the court fees for a mediated divorce in Nassau County?
$210 for the index number, $95 for the request for judicial intervention, $30 for the note of issue, and $35 to file the settlement agreement, a total of $370 paid to the Nassau County Clerk. Spouses who cannot afford the fees can apply for a fee waiver. The mediation fee is separate from the court fees.
Can my children stay in the Carle Place schools after the divorce?
Yes, if at least one parent keeps an address inside the Carle Place school district and the custody agreement names that address as the residence for enrollment. The district is small, so the agreement should also say what happens if that parent sells the house or moves to Westbury or Mineola, which have their own districts.
How is a Nassau County or New York State pension divided in a Carle Place divorce?
The portion earned during the marriage is marital property. It is divided by a domestic relations order that the New York State and Local Retirement System or the Teachers' Retirement System approves. The order sets the formula, the cutoff date, and whether the former spouse keeps survivor benefits. We draft it with the agreement so it is filed with the judgment.
My house is in the Village of Westbury but in the Carle Place school district. Does that affect the settlement?
It affects the budget. A house inside the Village of Westbury or the Village of Mineola pays village taxes on top of Nassau County and Town of North Hempstead taxes, so it costs more to keep than an unincorporated Carle Place address on the same street. The school district does not change. Those numbers go into the decision about who keeps the house.
How long does a mediated divorce take for a Carle Place couple?
Mediation usually takes three to five sessions over one to three months, depending on how quickly both spouses gather documents. After the agreement is signed, the uncontested filing in Nassau County typically takes another three to six months for the judge to sign the judgment.
Request Your Free Initial Consultation
Fill out the form, or call us now. Both spouses attend the consultation together — it’s free, and there’s no obligation to continue.