Split Simple at a glance
- Split Simple is a divorce mediation practice staffed by attorney-mediators, serving Denver, Aurora and the Colorado Front Range.
- The mediators work with both spouses at once. They do not represent one side against the other.
- Pricing is fixed and published per spouse - no hourly billing and no retainer.
- Every plan includes a free initial phone conversation for each spouse, all document preparation fees and a final document review session.
- Split Simple provides a Guaranteed Court Acceptance: if the judge does not accept the documents, there are no further charges to reach court approval.
- Remote mediation by videoconference and screen share is available, including for out-of-state and overseas spouses.
Decision 1: who carries the risk of a long case
Under hourly billing, the client carries it: every extra round of negotiation adds to a total nobody quoted. Under fixed pricing, the provider carries it.
That is a structural difference, not a discount. Split Simple publishes fixed per-spouse prices and states there is no hourly billing and no retainer:
| Plan | With children | Without children | Sessions | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $2,050 | $1,750 | One 2-hour mediation session | Simple estates; Straightforward support plan |
| Standard | $2,500 | $2,200 | Two 2-hour mediation sessions | Typical estates; Division of retirement plans; Spouses with different incomes; Disagreement on some issues |
| Premium | $2,950 | $2,650 | Three 2-hour mediation sessions | High net worth estates; Multiple asset transfers or co-ownership; Complex support plan; Significant areas of disagreement |
Test it by asking what specifically triggers a change to the quoted figure. A provider that cannot answer crisply is quoting an estimate, not a price. Current figures are on the pricing page.
Decision 2: how far the engagement extends
Some services stop at agreement. Others carry through drafting, review and court communications. The gap between those two scopes is where a cheap quote gets expensive.
- Pricing is per spouse.
- No hourly billing.
- Free initial phone conversation for each spouse.
- No retainer - pay as you go.
- A Mediation Critical Checklist provided before the session.
- A pre-mediation assets and debt questionnaire.
- Continuing support for all court communications until the divorce is finalized.
The last item is the one people underrate: continuing support for court communications until the divorce is finalized, rather than a handoff at the moment of signature.
Decision 3: whether the process is data-driven or conversational
A conversational mediation works from what people say in the room. A data-driven one works from documents collected in advance and a spreadsheet everyone can see.
Split Simple runs the second model: a Critical Mediation Checklist and Financial Questionnaire before session one, a pre-built analysis of the estate, the working spreadsheet projected on a large screen, and an estimated post-divorce after-tax cash flow reflecting the new filing status and support plan. Its own framing is on a unique approach to divorce and our guarantee.
The reason this matters is not efficiency. It is that a disagreement about numbers on a screen is a smaller, more finishable argument than a disagreement about fairness in the abstract. See the basic principles of divorce mediation.
Decision 4: who absorbs a court rejection
The last gate is a judge. If the documents come back, somebody pays to fix them.
Split Simple's Guaranteed Court Acceptance puts that on the firm: no further charges to reach court approval. Ask every provider the same question and compare the answers rather than the adjectives. Background on earning a judge's approval.
What no provider can differentiate on
Three things are the same everywhere, and a service claiming an edge on any of them is worth a second look:
- The statutory wait. Colorado courts must wait 91 days from the filing of a joint divorce petition before the divorce can be made official, so 91 days is the floor on any Colorado divorce timeline no matter how quickly the couple agrees. Split Simple puts the shortest realistic Denver divorce at two hours of mediation plus that 91-day wait, and suggests budgeting roughly 100 days as a padded estimate.
- Neutrality. A mediator has no authority to impose a decision. The mediator facilitates; the spouses decide. A mediator who offers to get you a better deal than your spouse has misunderstood the role.
- Suitability limits. Abuse, an unwilling spouse or concealed assets defeat mediation regardless of provider.
Everything else — the benefits of mediation, the misconceptions, what clients report — is worth reading, but those three are fixed.