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Family Law Mediation
Family Mediation is a negotiation process where spouses settle
their issues outside of court in direct discussions facilitated
and controlled by a single neutral professional. This professional
is called a mediator.
The process occurs via meetings between the parties and the mediator.
Each party is strongly encouraged to have their own lawyer, because
the mediator must remain truly neutral — which means they
can provide no legal advice to either party.
The mediator can provide legal information, can guide the discussion
around the various legal issues, and can even orient the parties
to a range of possible or usual outcomes, but they must stop short
of advocating any particular outcome. Practical, strategic and
legal advice about what outcome may or may not be optimal for
a spouse comes from that spouse's own lawyer, not the mediator.
Each party's own lawyer generally works in the background, advising
their client as to their legal rights, answering their specific
questions, and providing them with recommendations and opinions
about particular resolution points. It is possible, although uncommon,
for the parties to have their lawyers participate in the meetings
themselves.
The mediator will gather information about the parties and their
marriage, their children, their assets, debts, and their cash
flow and expense arrangements. They will manage the acquisition
and sharing of documents in support of this information exchange.
The mediator will also advise about what family law issues appear
to arise from the separation, and will assist the parties in defining
the questions to be answered, what other information is needed.
The mediator will then manage the communication around the bargaining
towards reaching a resolution acceptable to all.
Once the mediation process has achieved the goal of agreements
on all of the issues, usually then the draft Separation Agreement
is created by the mediator, and distributed to the parties for
review. At that point parties consult their own lawyer to get
some final legal advice, and to have their questions about the
terms or the language used in the document answered.
If all is in order, the Separation Agreement is signed. If revisions
are necessary, that can be done through the mediator, or between
the lawyers if the parties so choose.
Some of the advantages of mediation:
The parties are paying one professional fee to handle the bulk
(perhaps all) of the negotiations and agreement-building. If there
is one issue that is an impasse, the parties can take that issue
to their respective lawyer or to court for resolution, while preserving
the rest of the Agreement they built inside the mediation.
The mediation process takes place in private meetings. No court
appearances, and no personal financial documents (such as tax
returns) are filed in the public court records.
The mediator is present to facilitate communication towards a
mutually acceptable outcome.
Generally neither party gets everything they want — balanced
compromises are often the hallmark of a good agreement. It is
also true however that neither party is forced to capitulate —
by its very definition the process is voluntary, and no one can
be forced to sign the agreement.
Our family law mediation lawyers will take the time to assess
the characteristics of the parties and the issues presented,
determine any special needs or features necessary to ensure
a positive process. They will conduct the meetings and the negotiations
within those meetings with skill and finesse to bring the parties
to their best and most creative solutions.
Our team can also help each of you to find supportive independent
counsel.
If this option appeals to you, contact our office to speak to
one of our family law lawyers about this option.
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