Joseph W. Vander Horst

My divorce ultimately resulted in a financial settlement that I consider favorable, and I believe it is only fair to acknowledge that. However, the final amount does not accurately reflect my overall experience with the representation or the problems that occurred along the way. I went into my divor...ce extremely prepared financially. I had essentially forensically laid out my financial history across multiple spreadsheets, supported by the underlying records. My payments and contributions to the household could be followed transaction by transaction. Those records showed, on paper, the extent to which I had financially supported the household. Because of that documentation, litigation over the financial issues was not something I feared. I was prepared to put the evidence in front of a judge if necessary. I also was not shown comparable documentation from the defense that supported the claim later relayed to me that I had contributed “nothing.” That statement was particularly frustrating. During mediation, I was told that my former husband said I had contributed nothing. Considering the extensive documentation I had already provided, I expected my own evidence to carry considerably more weight than an unsupported statement from the other side. My personal property was another major issue. Before mediation, I had provided a very detailed list of my belongings. I had taken considerable time to identify the property because I wanted to make certain it was addressed as part of the divorce. When mediation occurred, however, I did not feel that Joe was adequately prepared with that detailed list or that the information I had supplied was being effectively used to protect my interests. Instead, I felt considerable pressure from both my attorney and the mediator to reach an agreement and sign immediately. This happened while I was dealing with very serious health problems. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and was relying heavily on my attorney to know the information I had provided and advocate for me when I was not at my strongest. Rather than feeling protected and prepared, I felt ambushed by the urgency to settle. I understand that mediation requires compromise. My criticism is not I expected to receive everything I wanted. I had simply done an enormous amount of work preparing both the financial documentation and the detailed property information, and I expected that preparation to be fully utilized before I was pushed toward a final settlement. What occurred with my personal property after the settlement was signed was especially disappointing. All parties had already signed the settlement. After that occurred, additional rules and restrictions were placed on the manner in which I was allowed to retrieve my belongings, including restrictions concerning photographing or documenting the property and its condition. That sequence matters to me. These were not restrictions that I understood to be part of the agreement when the settlement was signed. They came afterward, yet they affected the way I was permitted to recover my belongings. When I ultimately recovered property, some of my personal belongings were damaged or broken, other things were missing, and some of those items carried significant sentimental value. Considering that I had provided a detailed property list before mediation. Anyone considering a divorce attorney should ask detailed questions about how thoroughly the attorney prepares for mediation, whether financial spreadsheets and supporting records will actually be reviewed and used, whether detailed personal-property information will be incorporated into negotiations, how the attorney will respond if new conditions are imposed after a settlement has already been signed, how the retrieval and condition of personal belongings will be protected and documented, and how carefully court documents are reviewed before they are signed and filed. The results matter, but so does representation