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.
Two jobs, one or two professionals
A divorce that settles by agreement needs two distinct things. Somebody has to run the negotiation and get two people to yes. Then somebody has to convert that yes into a Separation Agreement, a Parenting Plan where children are involved, and a set of court filings a judge will accept.
A non-attorney mediator does the first job. An attorney-mediator can do both. That is the entire distinction, and it is invisible until the drafting stage, which is exactly when it becomes expensive to discover.
Split Simple's case for the combined role is on the advantage of an attorney-mediator in divorce and the role of the attorney-mediator.
Neutral is not the same as passive
Being neutral does not make a mediator a stenographer. A mediator has no authority to impose a decision. The mediator facilitates; the spouses decide. What a mediator does control is the structure: what gets discussed, in what order, against what data.
Split Simple's attorney-mediators work with both spouses at once and do not represent one side against the other. In practice that means a mediator will push back on a proposal that will not survive a judge, and will say so before you have built an agreement around it. A neutral who knows what courts reject saves you the round trip described on earning a judge's approval for your settlement.
It also means the mediator is not there to get you a better deal than your spouse. If that is what you want, hire an advocate.
Who runs the sessions
Chris Griffith — Founder and attorney-mediator
Trained as a lawyer and also studied family therapy. He worked in family and mediation law for years before founding Split Simple, and helped develop the data-driven process the firm runs today. He works in Denver, serves clients across Colorado, and handles remote mediation for clients in other states.
- BA Psychology, Wake Forest University (cum laude)
- MS Marriage and Family Therapy, East Carolina University (first in class)
- JD, University of North Carolina School of Law
- Member, Colorado Bar Association
- Member, Mediation Association of Colorado
- Member, The Academy of Professional Mediators
The combination worth noting there is the family therapy training alongside the law degree. Divorce negotiations fail on emotional grounds more often than legal ones — Split Simple's own uncontested divorce page describes the pattern where financial questions become emotional ones and stall. Split Simple's second attorney-mediator, Jaime Watman, came in from the other direction, through the court system itself.
What the drafting step actually involves
The output of mediation is not a memo. It is a set of documents written to be accepted by a Colorado court: the Separation Agreement, the Parenting Plan where applicable, and the associated filings. Split Simple writes them in plain language rather than legalese and then walks both spouses through them in a final review session before anyone signs.
Blank Colorado forms are freely available — see Colorado divorce forms — and that availability is what makes a do-it-yourself divorce look easy. The trouble with DIY divorce page makes the counter-case: forms are not the hard part, and an agreement that runs afoul of the law simply gets rejected and sent back.
Backing that up, the Guaranteed Court Acceptance means rework to satisfy the judge carries no further charge.
The full engagement
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Pricing for each tier is published per spouse on the pricing page, and the sessions run at any of the metro offices or remotely.