Serving All of Utah · Attorney/Mediator Led Mediation
Control the process. Collaborate with experts. Preserve your assets.
Resolve your divorce out of court with a confidential, attorney-led framework designed to protect your assets. Don’t trust such a significant legal and financial event to anyone but a legal and financial specialist. Choose a smarter, cost-effective path for your family.
Designed for medium to high-net-worth families who want a smarter path forward.
A Better Path
We bridge the gap between DIY apps and the adversarial court system.
On one end: forms-based services that flatten a marriage into a checklist but miss the nuanced conversation and information needed for an equitable and informed resolution.
On the other: a litigation track that's costly and time consuming, with final decisions made by the courts, not you.
Neither was built for families with complex assets, businesses, or complicated family dynamics.
The Process
Five measured steps, no retainers.
A structured legal framework where mediation sessions are spaced by the parties. As you work through the divorce process, necessary information is collected, questions are answered by a network of qualified professionals in a controlled and productive dialogue. A more informed and comprehensive outcome at a controlled pace.
01
The Fit
A brief no-charge call to determine if The Contained Divorce is the right framework for your situation and family.
02
Strategic Intake
You provide financial and intake details before we meet, so our time is focused on finding solutions and planning the next steps.
03
Initial Session
A two-hour meeting to set the agenda, establish positions, and identify any specialists needed.
04
Measured Resolution
Sessions are spaced to accommodate the needs and schedules of the parties.
05
The Exit Strategy
A Memorandum of Understanding is reached, reviewed by the parties, drafted by an attorney, and filed with the court. All for a flat fee.
Let's find out if this is the right framework for your family.
A 20-minute conversation, no charge, no commitment. We'll talk about your situation and decide together whether mediation is the better path.
The Founder
Christina Zavell, Esq.
A licensed attorney in good standing with the Utah Bar and a Court-Rostered Master Mediator and Mentor who built her practice around one premise: families navigating wealth and complexity deserve a process designed for them.
Christina works with mid-to-high-net-worth families on complex asset division: business interests, investment portfolios, retirement accounts, and real property. She is equally versed in the complicated family systems that surround them. Christina has curated a Utah-based network of financial neutrals, business valuators, and family-systems therapists who are available for appointments to provide information and expertise in their specialty areas, as needed.
What Our Clients Say
Christina was amazing. She was able to successfully mediate a stipulation to divorce in one day that had been held up for months. I would highly recommend her.
The Team
The professional network behind every matter.
An attorney-mediator trained in The Contained Divorce process leads each mediation. Specialists are available for breakout appointments to lend expertise to the areas of co-parenting, family systems work, property settlement and alimony. Engagement is scoped: you do not pay for expertise you do not need.
Attorney-Mediators
Experienced and Licensed Utah attorneys cross-trained in Christina’s unique and efficient process of mediation.
Financial Neutrals
Forensic and certified divorce financial analysts who model settlement scenarios with real numbers.
Business Valuators
Independent valuation specialists to provide financial information on businesses, partnerships and equity interests.
Estate Planning Attorneys
Brought in when wills, trusts, and other estate planing documents need to be revised.
Family-Systems Therapists
Trauma-informed clinicians who assist families in the recalibrating family dynamics where needed.
Co-Parenting Specialists
Practitioners who help build durable parenting plans.
Financial and Tax Providers
CPAs and tax counsel who advise on the tax consequences of any proposed property settlement and asset division.
Trained Arbitrators
Available for the rare impasse that calls for a binding decision, drawn from our network, if the parties mutually decide to stay out of court.
What Our Clients Say
Kindness, patience, and understanding through difficult circumstances. I felt that Christina did her best to reach the most fair outcome possible despite resistance to the process driven by stress and anxiety.
Schedule
Let's find out if The Contained Divorce is right for your family.
A brief consultation at no charge. Christina hears the complexities of your situation, you ask the questions that matter, and we decide together whether mediation is the right framework before anything else happens.
How the booking process works:
01
Book a 20-minute call.
Pick a time from the calendar to the right. The call is no charge and no commitment.
02
Christina reviews your situation.
Before the call, Christina reads your brief intake summary so the conversation can address your questions.
03
You decide together if it's a fit.
You will get a direct input as to whether your matter is appropriate for mediation.
04
If it is, next steps are simple.
You receive an Agreement to Mediate and the intake materials for Strategic Intake. The work begins.
Can't find a time that works? Reach us directly.
If the calendar above is full, or if you would rather just email, please reach out to us at christina@thecontaineddivorce.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions you might be holding.
The same questions come up at most first calls. Here are the ones we hear most often, with the answers we give in the room.
What is The Contained Divorce process?
The Contained Divorce is a structured, attorney-led mediation framework. The process is confidential and designed for families with mid-high net worth. We can also address more complicated financial landscapes such as a family business, or multi-generational wealth. A licensed attorney-mediator guides each session; specialists (valuators, financial neutrals, therapists) are available for appointments when a specific issue calls for one.
The framework moves through five named stages: The Fit, Strategic Intake, The Initial Session, Measured Resolution, and The Exit Strategy. Most matters resolve in three to four sessions across three to four months, ending with a Memorandum of Understanding drafted by the Attorney Mediator. An attorney then drafts and files the necessary court documents for a flat fee.
Why choose The Contained Divorce over traditional litigation?
Litigation is costly, slow, and adversarial. Pleadings, responses, and financial disclosures cost thousands of dollars to prepare and file, frequently moving parties further apart. Decisions about your business, your children, and your finances are made by the court if the parties cannot reach an agreement. Mediation is typically required as part of the process. Why not start with a conversation to see how much can be resolved with proper information and discussion?
Mediation is a confidential process driven by the parties. Decisions are made by the two of you, with information provided by experts, legal, financial and/or therapeutic at a pace determined by the complexity of the issues and your family’s needs. The cost is significantly less and disclosed up front.
How is TCD different?
In most adversarial processes, positions are taken which does not always translate into preserving assets and protecting interests: someone files, your counsel responds. We work the other direction. We gather information with expert input to create full disclosure and problem solve as we work through the agenda set by you, the parties.
Specialists are brought in when the matter calls for one (a business valuator for a closely held company, a financial neutral for retirement-account division, a therapist when parenting structures need work). Nothing happens to your family by default and without the necessary information.
What if we can't agree?
Most impasses are not deadlocks. They are missing facts, a missing specialist, or a position taken before the picture was clear and decisions were informed with solid information. We work each issue with more information and time to process.
For an issue that genuinely will not resolve, you can stipulate to binding arbitration on that single point with a Utah-trained arbitrator from our network. The arbitrator decides that issue privately, the rest of the agreement holds, and mediation continues for everything else. You do not have to restart in court. However, court always remains an option.
What is the timeline?
Most matters resolve in three to four sessions across three to four months. Highly complex estates (multiple business interests, multi-state real property, intricate trust structures) may extend; uncomplicated matters may resolve faster.
Expect “homework” between sessions: documents to pull, advice to seek, decisions for further discussion. The pace is intentional, because pressured decisions on assets and parenting tend to be the decisions that get revisited later.
Why not just DIY using apps and AI tools available?
AI-assisted divorce platforms and form-based services often do not create long term plans. Frequently these Agreements end up back in court. For a couple with a short marriage, no children, and a checking account, they can be useful but are not recommended.
However, generic platforms are not built for more complicated financial and family systems dynamics. When a business needs to be valued, a partnership needs to be dissolved, or a child has needs that do not fit a default custody template informed decisions and a licensed attorney to guide the process increase the likelihood of success for a lasting resolution. Divorce is a legal construct, and a legal professional can help make sure any resolution is lasting, fair and equitable.
What we provide is a trained Attorney Mediator and neutrals experts who can be accessed in real time to answer questions. The Contained Divorce is a process that adapts to your family and needs rather than the other way around.
We're divorcing. How do we start collaborating?
Most families want a fair and equitable outcome without years of conflict and unnecessary expense. Mediation is the answer because most conflict is fueled by misunderstanding in the context of unknowns. What will my financial situation be, who will take care of the children, can I retire? Big questions, big concerns. Divorce through mediation becomes an investment in change.
Before the first session, you'll complete a structured intake, so the financial and family dynamic and topic for discussions are outlined clearly. Mediations are led by an attorney-mediator with input from specialists consulted as specific questions arise. You and your spouse receive the same information, at the same time, often in the same room, keeping the conversation moving forward instead of sideways.
When children are part of the picture, the process is designed to create a co-parenting working relationship, so your children are not impacted and future events such as graduations, holidays are handled with grace. When significant assets are involved, the goal is protecting them, not spending them on litigation.
The 20-minute Fit call exists so you don't have to figure out if this is right for you on your own.