What Is Mediation in Family Law?

Family mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process in family law cases. In mediation, both parties meet with a trained mediator to work out legal issues in their divorce or child custody case. In family law, you can use mediation for divorces and child custody cases.

The mediation process is non-adversarial—both people can have an open, constructive dialogue about the best way to move forward with their lives as co-parents after a divorce or separation. For more information about the mediation process,  talk to an experienced family law attorney near you.

How Does Divorce Mediation Work?

In most cases, divorce mediation involves a pre-mediation screening to determine whether mediation is best for your specific situation. For example, mediation often isn’t an option if domestic violence is a concern. However, a good mediator has ways to ensure the safety of all parties. They can help ensure domestic violence civil or criminal orders are not violated.

Many family courts, and criminal courts, don’t consider mediation participation as violating the domestic violence court order. However, if the domestic violence survivor does not wish to participate in mediation, and they have a court order, the family court judge generally can’t order or force mediation.

After agreeing to mediation, a trained mediator meets with both parties and their attorneys. The mediator can be a lawyer, social worker, judge, or other professional. You’ll discuss how to resolve issues in your divorce proceedings. Some mediations can be a way to resolve all issues in the divorce and work towards a global settlement agreement. These issues include:

• Property division
• Debt division
• Child custody
• Child support
• Parenting plans if the parties have children
• Spousal support or alimony

Sometimes, parties need to get only a couple of issues resolved, such as temporary parenting time schedules, while the parties work through other areas of the divorce. Divorce proceedings can take a long time, depending on many factors. Mediations to work through temporary concerns, like parenting time schedules, can be beneficial and necessary.

It’s important to recognize that mediation programs are confidential. The mediator is a neutral third party. Even if the mediator is a lawyer or a judge, they can’t offer legal advice. Each person should have their own lawyer to answer any legal questions or concerns.

Once a mediated agreement is reached, the agreement will go to the family court judge to sign. Then, it becomes a court order.

What Happens at Child Custody Mediation?

Child custody mediation sessions can be either court-ordered or agreed upon by the parties. Child custody mediation is very similar to divorce mediation. The big difference is what’s discussed during the mediation session.

Unlike divorce mediation, mediation for child custody cases only focuses on legal custody, parenting time schedules or visitation schedules, and child support.

Child custody mediation, like divorce mediation, is confidential. Generally, the only exception in either is when there are child abuse allegations. Most mediators are mandatory child abuse reporters. Thus, if any such allegations arise, the mediator must report suspected abuse to the proper authority. This could be law enforcement or child protective services.

Once a mediated agreement is reached, the agreement will go to the family court judge to sign. It then becomes a court order. In child custody cases, the family court judge will review the mediated agreement to ensure that the custody dispute is fully resolved and the terms are in the best interest of the child.

Mediation vs. Litigation

The primary difference between mediation and litigation is that the two parties actually sit down to discuss the matter in person, or, if necessary, via video chat.

Mediation also has advantages, such as being in charge of decision-making rather than leaving things up to a judge. You have more control over the outcome by participating in mediation than you would if you take your case to court and have a family court judge decide.

Other benefits of mediation include:

• There’s a faster resolution to the divorce or child custody case
• It’s more cost-effective than going to court, which can be beneficial if there are financial issues or concerns of either party
• Generally, parties feel more satisfied with the outcome since they had more of a say in the court order’s terms

Collaborative Divorce vs. Divorce Mediation

Collaborative divorce differs from mediation. By definition, collaborative divorce involves lawyers negotiating on behalf of each party to a divorce. In this way, it resembles typical divorce proceedings. But it’s also in line with the spirit of mediation—it demands a cooperative approach to finding a solution that suits everyone involved.

If you’re facing a divorce or child custody case and want to learn more about family mediation in your area, talk to an experienced talk to an experienced family law attorney near you today.