Divorce Management Group aids amicable splits

“There was a lot of anger on both sides,” he said.

“The one thing that (both my ex-wife and I) knew the other one cared a lot about was the child, so that became the chess piece in our fighting.”

However, he said, the divorce might have gone more smoothly if they had access to Divorce Management Group, the new venture of his current wife, Tracey Sheets.

Divorce Management Group, started in August at 910 W. Battlefield, Ste. 400, is aimed at making contested divorces less contentious through mediation, financial counseling and classes on communication and anger management.

Tracey Sheets wants divorcing couples to call her in order to work out an amicable agreement before seeking legal counsel.

“What I’m trying to do is provide an alternative way of reaching the same end,” Tracey Sheets said, “but going about it in a more civilized way.”

Counseling first

David Sheets, who has been married to Tracey Sheets since 1991, said services such as those offered by Divorce Management Group would have been a big help when he divorced his ex-wife.

“I think that my ex-wife and I would have been much more sensitive to the things that were done and said to each other,” he said.

Tracey Sheets said she was inspired to start the business in August because of her husband’s story and her own professional experience – a bachelor’s degree from Drury University with a double major in psychology and sociology, a mediation certificate from Missouri State University and more than 10 years of paralegal work.

She believes that couples who are considering divorce should seek marriage counseling first.

But when reconciliation doesn’t happen, Divorce Management Group is there to help – and can save money for a divorcing couple, Sheets said.

Costly decision

Her fee is $6,000, though that could change based on a couple’s financial restrictions.

Sheets fee doesn’t include the inevitable legal fees, but she said her service greatly reduces the frequency of lawyer use, and thus, the amount of legal fees incurred.

All totaled, Sheets figures, she can help a couple divorce for less than $10,000, whereas Springfield attorney Steve Seigel said the average couple with children that he helps through divorce can rack up $15,000 or more in legal bills.

“It’s very expensive,” said Seigel, who said he spends half of his professional time on divorces.

Seigel is one of several attorneys who have agreed to accept referrals from Sheets, who said she has a resource base of lawyers, tax accountants, therapists, insurance companies and Christian organizations.

“I think statistics will show that about 90 percent of the cases end up settled (through mediation) anyway,” Seigel said. “So, why not try that approach first?”

Sheets said she won’t deal with cases involving domestic violence or sexual molestation, but she will deal with anything else, including substance abuse or extramarital affairs.

She said she spent less than $10,000 in startup costs, mostly on advertising, and hopes to start offering classes by January.

So far, she said, she’s helped one couple through a divorce.

“What Tracey’s doing is an education process of taking the divorce several years out and saying, ‘This is where you’re headed. In a typical divorce, you’re going to be right back in court in a few years from now fighting this all over again because you haven’t learned how to communicate being divorced,’” David Sheets said.[[In-content Ad]]