双赢调解事务所STAY OUT OF COURT
Mediation Service

    You can participate in divorce mediation before or after anyone files anything in court and so starts the steps in litigation. Between the date of filing and the date of your first or second court hearing, you may resolve all or most issues through mediation. In most cases it is best to get some advice from an attorney even if you expect to resolve everything through mediation.

We help people talk about the things that are really hard to talk about and figure out the best way to move forward.

For a free consultation about whether family mediation would be helpful for you, contact Zhiyun Huang at manager@symediation.com or 2407161000.




List of Services (please click the tabs above)
  • Divorce Mediation
  • Separation Agreements
  • Child Support Agreements
  • Co-Parenting Agreements
  • Property Settlement Agreements
Mediation_Service.jpg

You can participate in divorce mediation before or after anyone files anything in court and so starts the steps in litigation. Between the date of filing and the date of your first or second court hearing, you may resolve all or most issues through mediation. In most cases it is best to get some advice from an attorney even if you expect to resolve everything through mediation.

We help people talk about the things that are really hard to talk about and figure out the best way to move forward.

For a free consultation about whether family mediation would be helpful for you, contact Zhiyun Huang at manager@symediation.com or 2407161000.




List of Services (please click the tabs above)
  • Divorce Mediation
  • Separation Agreements
  • Child Support Agreements
  • Co-Parenting Agreements
  • Property Settlement Agreements
Mediation_Service.jpg

Divorce_Mediation.jpg In a confidential setting, a professional family mediator can help each party to communicate what is important to him or her and to hear what is important to the other party. One of us can help you

  • identify the issues that need to be resolved,
  • focus on one issue at a time,
  • discuss the possible solutions,
  • come to agreement about parenting plans, financial, and/or other issues,
  • prepare a draft of your emerging agreement, and
  • review, revise, and possibly finalize the agreement.
  • We do recommend that each of the parties have an attorney review the agreement before they commit themselves to it.
Compared to litigation, divorce mediation helps you avoid a huge amount of emotional distress, save thousands of dollars and lots of time, and stay in control of decisions about the terms of your divorce.

For a free consultation about whether family mediation would be helpful for your family, contact: Zhiyun Huang at manager@symediation.com or 1(240)7161000.

This site is for informational purposes only. Nothing here should be construed as legal advice.


Mediation is the best way for many couples or ex-couples to make decisions about legal custody, physical custody, spousal support, and child support. If they are planning a divorce, they can also include property distribution in a Separation Agreement. The couple can develop and sign an agreement either before or after one of them moves out of the shared residence. Having a written agreement about how they are going to handle things protects both parties from certain legal risks and from much emotional turmoil. It also protects the children from the anxiety that comes from believing that your parents are fighting about you and not knowing what the future holds for you.

The completed, signed Separation Agreement can be incorporated into a court order if either party asks the court to do that.



If your state has guidelines for determining what amount of child support is probably appropriate, as Virginia does, a certified family mediator can show you what the guidelines recommend. Most states have such guidelines, based on each parent’s income, the cost of health care insurance for the children, work-related child care expenses, and other relevant factors. Child support guidelines in the Commonwealth of Virginia were updated on July 1, 2014.

Another way a family mediator can help divorced, estranged, or unwed parents decide how much child support (and sometimes spousal support) makes sense is by listing each parent’s monthly expenses and determining how much help one parent needs from the other to cover necessary expenses for the parent and children to have food, shelter, health care, clothing, and the standard of living the parents want for their children. Sometimes the parties discover that the two of them added together do not have enough income to cover all of the expenses in both households. They sometimes need to get creative about finding ways to decrease expenses or increase income.

Some parents agree to share expenses the law would not require, such as tuition for private school or costs associated with sports and other extracurricular activities.

A list of common monthly expenses as follows:

Monthly Budgets


Child Support
This list is a planning tool for separated or divorced parents to use to help figure out how much money needs to be transferred from one parent to the other so that the children will be well provided for in both homes.

Spousal Support
The list can also be used to figure out how much spousal support is needed.

Formulas and Guidelines
The Commonwealth of Virginia offers formulas and/or guidelines to determine these matters, but many people prefer to take a closer look at the actual financial needs of each household.

This list is not exhaustive but includes the most common categories of monthly expenses. You can copy it and paste it into a spreadsheet and fill out one column for each parent or spouse involved in the decision. Add any categories that are relevant for your family.

  1. HOUSING
    • Rent
    • Primary mortgage, including tax and insurance
    • Second mortgage or home equity line
    • Homeowners association dues
    • House maintenance and repairs
    • timeshare 1
    • timeshare 2
  2. UTILITIES
    • Water
    • Electricity
    • Gas
    • Trash removal
    • Cable/Internet/phone
    • Cell phone
  3. TRANSPORTATION
    • Car payment
    • Car insurance
    • Gas for car
    • Car maintenance and repair
    • Car registration and inspection
    • Car tax
    • Tolls and parking fees
    • Metro and bus fares
  4. GROCERIES
    • Food and drink for parent
    • Food and drink for kid(s)
  5. CLOTHING
    • Clothes for parent
    • Clothes for kids
    • Dry cleaning
  6. INSURANCE
      Life insurance
    • Disability insurance
    • Medical insurance
    • Dental insurance
    • Homeowner’s insurance
  7. ADULT HEALTH CARE EXPENSES
    • Doctors’ fees not covered by insurance
    • Dental expenses not covered by insurance
    • Vision care not covered by insurance
    • Psychotherapy not covered by insurance
    • Prescriptions and OTC medicines not covered
  8. MISCELLANEOUS
    • Household supplies
    • Pet expenses
    • Adult hobbies and sports
    • House cleaning service
    • Yard care
    • Personal grooming
    • Charitable contributions
    • Newspapers/magazines
    • Gifts
    • Anything else?
  9. CHILD EXPENSES
    • School tuition
    • School supplies and fees
    • School lunches
    • Tutoring
    • Day care
    • Evening and weekend chid care
    • Summer camps
    • Lessons and sports
    • Health care expenses not covered by insurance
  10. RECREATION
    • Computers/electronics
    • Restaurants and movies
    • Entertainment
    • Vacations
  11. DEBT PAYMENTS
    • Credit card 1
    • credit card 2
    • Other
SUM OF MONTHLY EXPENSES



Sometimes all that parents who never married each other need is a written agreement about their parenting plan. Where will the kids be for school days and nights? What about weekends, school breaks, summers, and holidays? Having a written agreement reduces misunderstandings and future disputes. It makes planning special events easier for both parents and for their children.

Sometimes circumstances change and parents who have been divorced for more than a year need to modify their parenting plan. If they need any professional assistance with negotiations, mediation is the most cooperative and least distressing process for re-evaluating and revising the schedule.

The new parenting plan can be incorporated into a court order if either party asks the court to do that. Most courts still use the unfriendly terms “custody” and “visitation” when writing orders about parenting schedules.



Peace of mind is important, especially when your children are involved.

Shuangying's collaborative team will resolve your custody issues in a sane, sensible and fair way at a reasonable cost.

Parenting Plan Mediation:
  • Keeps focus on the children’s best interests
  • Helps you make lasting, sound decisions about parenting, physical custody, and legal custody
  • Tailors your custody agreement to your and your children’s needs
  • Improves co-parenting and co-parent communication
  • Keeps you out of court, saving money, time and emotional toll

At Shuangying Mediation Services, our custody mediation and parenting plan mediation services assist divorced, divorcing and never-married parents in working together to develop a child-centered custody plan and improve your ability to co-parent.

Note: All of the information on symediation.com concerning parenting also pertains to never married parents, separated parents, or divorced parents. Child support and parenting rights and responsibilities are the same for everyone.

Parenting Plan: Written court orders which outline how often and when the children will be with each parent and how child-focused decisions will be made. Parenting plans typically include decision making protocols, a day-to-day schedule, vacations, holidays and travel, as well as other parenting issues like move-aways.


Around the time they separate, ex-couples benefit from having written agreements about custody, visitation, and support. If they are planning to divorce, they also benefit from having, before filing for divorce, a signed agreement about who gets which assets and which debts. Mediation is a great way to save time, money, and sanity as you negotiate your Property Settlement Agreement. A mediator who is acting as your scrivener can write your Property Settlement Agreement for you. We do recommend that both parties get advice from attorneys before signing their Agreement.

When you have your parenting agreement (if applicable), your support agreement (if applicable), and your Property Settlement Agreement written and signed, it is fairly easy and inexpensive to file for divorce pro se (representing yourself).