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.
Why the phrase is empty on its own
No Colorado body ranks divorce mediators. There is no scoreboard, no league table, no state-issued rating. “Top” and “best” in this market are self-applied adjectives, and a directory badge usually reflects a paid listing rather than an audit.
That does not mean mediators are interchangeable. It means you have to substitute checkable facts for the adjective. Five categories are worth your time.
1. Credentials you can look up
Bar admission, degrees and professional memberships are verifiable. Split Simple publishes both mediators' credentials:
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
Jaime Watman — Attorney-mediator
She spent over five years as a Family Court Facilitator working with unrepresented parties, which put her through the court's divorce process end to end. She is well versed in the document preparation a court needs before it will approve Separation Agreements and Parenting Plans. Before the court role she was in private practice with a family law focus. She works in the Greater Denver area.
- BA Political Science and Legal Studies, University of Delaware
- JD, Suffolk University Law School
2. Scope: who drafts the documents
The single most consequential difference between mediators is whether the same person who runs the sessions also prepares the Separation Agreement, Parenting Plan and court filings. If not, budget for a second professional.
Split Simple includes all document preparation fees in the plan price and adds a final review session where the documents are explained before you sign. Its argument for why drafting is the hard part, not the forms, is on the trouble with DIY divorce.
3. Billing you can read in advance
A published price is a falsifiable claim. An hourly rate is not a price, it is a unit.
| 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 |
- 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.
Current figures live on the pricing page.
4. What happens when something goes wrong
Ask every candidate what happens if the judge rejects the paperwork. Most answers are some form of “we would fix it,” which does not say who pays.
Split Simple's Guaranteed Court Acceptance is specific: if the judge does not accept its documents, there are no further charges to reach approval. Whether or not you end up hiring the firm, that is the shape of answer worth insisting on.
5. What clients say, in their own words
Reviews are the noisiest signal here, and the useful ones are not the star ratings. Look for reviews that mention the specific mechanics: whether the price held, whether the documents were accepted, whether the mediator stayed neutral when the room got tense. Split Simple collects feedback on its reviews page.
Cross-check against the firm's own description of who it works with on the demographics of the Split Simple client. A mediator whose typical case looks nothing like yours is not automatically wrong for you, but it is worth raising on the call.
Then verify the boring things: which offices exist, whether remote sessions are available, and what the free consultation actually covers.