Mediation plays an important role in most family law cases. If you and your spouse cannot agree on all the issues in your case, the court will require that you attend a mediation before you can have the court decide the issues in your case after a hearing. It is important to know what mediation is and what it can do for you.
Mediation is a process involving an objected third-party who attempts to help the parties reach a voluntary resolution of their issues. The mediator’s only agenda is to try to settle the case. Mediation is not arbitration. Arbitration is a process that involves an objective third-party who actually decides the issues between the parties.
It must be emphasized that mediation is a voluntary process. While the court may order you to attend a mediation, it is up to you whether or not you are willing to reach a settlement or partial settlement at the mediation. Mediation works. This is why the courts require it before they are willing to hear your case. You may wonder why a mediator is ever required if both parties are represented by attorneys. The mediator can still be invaluable in providing a different perspective. Sometimes, a party needs to hear the hard facts from someone other that his/her attorney. There is also a hybrid process called mediation/arbitration (med/arb). A med/arb starts out exactly like a mediation. However, if the parties can’t reach a complete settlement as to all their issues at the end of the mediation, the mediator switches gears and becomes an arbitrator and makes a decision as to any remaining issues. The med/arb model is becoming more popular. A med/arb will typically involve significantly less litigation costs than a regular hearing before a judge.
In the “Marriage Zone”, mediation is your friend. In a family law case, both parties are usually more satisfied with a settlement that they have mutually arrived at compared with a ruling imposed by a court.
