What is divorce mediation?

What is mediation?  Mediation is a type of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in which parties attempt to negotiate a resolution with the help of a neutral third party called a “mediator”. 

The mediator remains neutral during the process, offering insight, guidance, and sometimes opinions.  However, the mediator is not a judge or arbitrator, so he or she cannot order a husband or wife to do anything.

What is collaborative divorce?

In a normal divorce, the parties try to negotiate a settlement.  This can occur early in the case or even shortly before trial.  In the collaborative process, the parties and their attorneys work to settle the case before the case is filed. 

Once a settlement can be achieved parties sign settlement paperwork and obtain a case number.  After 30 days, the lawyers will simply submit the settlement paperwork for judicial approval. 

We recommend the collaborative process whenever available.  However, this may not be your best course of action if you do not have a strong familiarity with your family’s complete financial picture or assets held by your spouse.

Collaborative Divorce and Mediation as effective ways to reduce legal fees

The popularity of mediation and collaborative divorce has truly exploded during the past decade. 

Many married people have heard horror stories of the financial and personal toll that a long-fought divorce or custody case will cause.

Seeking ways to resolve your case through either the collaborative process or mediation can provide you and your family with a very significant benefit. First, the process potentially reduces the cost of litigation. Second, by settling your case early you can avoid the uncertainty and unpredictability of a trial. Finally, the process can usually result in an increase in the expediency of a resolution and reduction in the amount of stress in having to testify and appear in court.

Tips for effective mediation and collaborative divorce

Mediation and the collaborative process require voluntary participation from both parties. Unlike divorce litigation, if one party elects to walk out of the mediation or collaborative process, the entire process comes to a halt.

It’s really easy to feel a tendency to want to walk away from a voluntary mediation with your spouse. If you want the process to work, try to avoid acting on your tendency to cut off communications. Try to focus on points in your life when you and your spouse had a positive experience. Maybe it was the time you first met or the day when your child was born. If you can focus on positive experiences that you had with your husband or wife, you’ll probably experience a better outcome for yourself.

Are collaborative divorce and mediation considered confidential?

Mediation is confidential, meaning that discussions and offers made in mediation cannot later be offered as evidence in court.  It can be in-person, or over the phone or videoconference. 

Similarly, negotiations, offers, and counter-offers, occurring in the collaborative divorce process are considered confidential and inadmissible as evidence.

Many clients prefer the privacy associated with collaborative divorce and mediation. This allows the parties to engage in discussion, negotiation, even debate, outside of the public eye.