The Mediation Option

In a mediated divorce, you and your spouse engage a neutral third party mediator to assist you in reaching financial agreements about your divorce. The mediator does not need to be a lawyer and does not represent either of you and, even if a lawyer or not, the mediator cannot offer legal advice.

In addition to the financial mediator, you will also hire a limited-scope "consulting attorney" whose role is to explain what the law says without offering specific legal advise and to prepare the documents required to be filed by the court, including the parenting plan if children are involved.

1. The goal of mediation is to allow you and your spouse to reach agreements that meet your needs and the needs of your children without the financial and emotional cost of a court battle. The mediator can provide information about the divorce process and guide a discussion to help resolve issues.
2. You both communicate with each other directly, in the presence of the mediator, and decide together what information to review.
3. You and your spouse must appear in court, along with your limited-scope consulting attorney, for your final hearing to have your agreement approved and the divorce judgment granted.

The cost of mediation is considerably less than litigation or Collaboration but does demand a reasonable level of co-operation between you and your spouse.

The mediation approach can be used as the only conflict resolution approach or in conjunction with the Collaborative approach to resolve specific issues on which you and your spouse may have reached impasse.

How does the mediation process actually work? More…