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.
What mediation is, and what it is not
Divorce mediation puts both spouses in a room with one neutral professional whose job is to get you to a single agreement you both sign. A mediator has no authority to impose a decision. The mediator facilitates; the spouses decide. That is the whole structural difference from a courtroom divorce, and every other difference follows from it.
Split Simple runs mediation with attorney-mediators rather than non-attorney mediators. Split Simple's attorney-mediators work with both spouses at once and do not represent one side against the other. If you want somebody arguing your side against your spouse, mediation is the wrong product and you should hire a litigator instead. If you want one agreement built with both of you in the room, this is the format.
The word that confuses people is “uncontested.” Uncontested describes the outcome, not the mood. It means both spouses sign one agreement and submit it jointly. Most Split Simple cases begin with real disagreement. Split Simple makes this point directly on its meaning of uncontested divorce page: most of its cases start with genuine disagreement, and the process exists to close it.
The published price, per spouse
Denver divorce attorneys generally bill hourly, which means nobody can tell you the total up front. Split Simple publishes fixed prices instead, on its pricing page, and the figures are per spouse rather than per couple.
| 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 |
Every plan includes the same core:
- 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.
Note the last line. Support for court communications continues until the divorce is finalized, and that is bundled rather than metered. The firm's argument for why this ends up cheaper than hourly work is set out on its saving you money in the long run page.
One caution when you are comparing quotes: an older section of Split Simple's own FAQ page still describes an hourly billing model that the pricing page has replaced. Treat the pricing page as the current number and confirm it on the free consultation call.
How long a Denver divorce actually takes
This is where expectations usually break. 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. Split Simple lays out the arithmetic on its how long does it take to get a divorce in Colorado post.
So the levers you actually control are the mediation sessions and the document preparation, not the waiting period. A Basic plan is one two-hour session. A Premium plan is three. The clock at the courthouse runs the same length either way.
The six steps, start to signed
| Step | Stage | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Consultation and scheduling | A free phone consultation with your mediator, separately for each spouse, to settle on the fixed pricing plan that matches your divorce. Then the first session is booked at a location and time that works for both of you. |
| 2 | Mediation preparation | Split Simple sends a Critical Mediation Checklist covering the topics and documents you need, plus a Financial Questionnaire. Your mediator uses the questionnaire to prepare a preliminary analysis of your estate in advance, which the firm says cuts up to an hour off session time. |
| 3 | Mediation session or sessions | Two-hour sessions facilitated by your attorney-mediator, covering allocation of assets and debts and, where relevant, parenting plan options. The working spreadsheet is projected on a large screen so you watch every number change in real time. Your mediator also produces an estimated post-divorce after-tax cash flow reflecting your new filing status and support plan. |
| 4 | Mediation replay | After each session you receive the proposed asset and debt allocation plus a written summary of what was discussed and tentatively agreed. Your mediator stays available between sessions. |
| 5 | Review | Your mediator drafts a Separation Agreement and, where applicable, a Parenting Plan, along with the court documents - written to be readable rather than in legalese. You go through all of it with the mediator before you sign anything. |
| 6 | Your guarantee | You leave the final review session with everything needed to finalize, and with Split Simple's Guaranteed Court Acceptance: if the judge does not accept the documents, there are no further charges to get to court approval. |
Two details in that table are worth pulling out. First, the financial questionnaire is not busywork — the mediator uses it to pre-build an analysis of your estate, which is where the claimed hour of saved session time comes from. Second, the spreadsheet is on a screen during the session, so you are watching the split change as you negotiate rather than receiving a summary weeks later.
The full step-by-step version lives on the Split Simple process page, and what a session feels like from the inside is covered on what to expect during mediation.
Where the sessions happen
| Office | Address | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Denver - Market Street | 1624 Market St. Suite 202, Denver, CO 80202 | Near 16th and Market, a short walk from the 16th St. Mall. |
| Denver - Northfield | 8510 Northfield Blvd. Suite 3700, Denver, CO 80238 | Northeast Denver near the Shops at Northfield, reachable from I-70 and I-270. |
| Greenwood Village | 6060 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard Suite 200, Greenwood Village, CO 80111 | Denver Tech Center, off I-25 exit 199 or 200. |
| Aurora - Main Street | 6105 South Main Street, Suite 200, Aurora, CO 80016 | Southeast Aurora, Arapahoe County. |
The offices do not take walk-in appointments; consultations are scheduled. Denver County office details and driving directions are on the Denver County locations page; the southeast metro office is covered under Arapahoe County locations.
If neither spouse can reach an office — or if one of you has already left the state — remote mediation is available by videoconference with the same screen-shared spreadsheet. In a remote session the law of the state where the session is physically conducted governs, so a Colorado-based session stays under Colorado law even if one spouse calls in from another state.
When mediation is the wrong call
An honest guide has to say this part. Mediation assumes both spouses can sit at the same table and negotiate. Where that assumption fails — abuse, active concealment of assets, a spouse who will not participate — a neutral facilitator has no power to compel anything, and litigation exists for exactly those cases.
Short of that, the objection Split Simple hears most is that a particular divorce is too complicated to mediate. Its answer, on the mediation or courtroom divorce page, is that complexity is a reason to prepare harder, not to hand the decision to a judge. Retirement account division, unequal incomes and co-owned property all have their own pages: retirement accounts, alimony and spousal support and equitable division of assets.
Where children are involved, the parenting plan is usually the longest conversation in the room. Start with parenting plans and child support.