Benefits of Family Mediation?

• Mediation saves you money when compared to going to court or pursuing lawyer-assisted negotiation.
• Mediation is a much faster process for resolving conflict than court action or lawyer-assisted negotiation. Mediation dates can generally be arranged within a few weeks. There is no requirement to wait for months for a court date. Most disputes are resolved in only a few sessions.
• Faster resolution and reduced conflict means less stress, fewer sleepless nights, and less emotional pain for you and your family.
• You participate in the resolution of your own dispute, which is better than having a judge impose a solution no one likes.
• Participants have more freedom to craft their own custom solutions to their problems, which can be far more creative than what a judge might order.
• Reduced conflict is better for the children and enables parties to be better parents.
• Participants are more satisfied with mediated solutions, as they feel they have been heard, understood and involved. They are also more likely to uphold mediated agreements.
• Mediation is less adversarial than litigation. It keeps conflicts from escalating and preserves some kind of relationship with the other party.
• Mediation is private and confidential. Mediation sessions take place in private, not in an open courtroom. The details of the dispute are not available on public records.
• Parties choose their schedule – when and where to mediate. Courts never provide such flexibility.
• Research indicates that settlements reached in family mediation are longer lasting and better protect the interests of the children than those imposed by the court in an adversarial process.
• Parties choose their mediator, whereas in court, they have no choice of who judges their case.

Mary Sanger is a trained mediator in divorce and family mediation.