Mediation As A Resolution To Family Law Issues

In this article, you will learn…

• When to start mediation for your divorce or custody case,
• How many sessions of mediation will be right for you, and
• The benefits of resolving issues via mediation.

When Is The Best Time To Start Mediation For My Divorce Or Custody Or Child Support Issues?

The best time to start mediation for your divorce, custody, or child support issues is as soon as possible. Reaching an agreement on contested issues really makes the entire process so much easier for spouses and co-parents. Occasionally, clients even want to schedule mediation before anything has even been filed.

Some people who have heard of mediation will decide that it’s a good idea to go to a private mediator before they even bring their issues to court, which is truly a great idea. It just requires cooperation between the parties. Unfortunately, you can’t get one party to cooperate because they’re skeptical, worried, or just don’t want to do it.

If you happen to have a spouse or co-parent who is willing to do mediation, that’s a fantastic first step to see whether or not you can agree and resolve your case together. If you can put your agreement in writing, you won’t have to have a contested court case.

At any time during your case, you’re able to go to mediation. If one party refuses to go to mediation and you end up filing your case, they can always change their mind and try to mediate disputes during the court process. In many counties, the court will order the parties to go to mediation pretty early on in a divorce or custody case.

There’s really no point during your case that’s inappropriate for you to go to mediation. Even if you’re more than halfway through your highly contested case, you can still choose to try mediation to see if you’re able to work through your issues together with your attorneys. And a good attorney will always recommend this route.

Parties can, of course, go to mediation without attorneys. Sometimes just having a conversation with a neutral third party can be extremely beneficial. You can certainly find a good mediator and see if you’re able to work out an agreement or even a partial agreement that way.

How Many Sessions Of Mediation Are Generally Needed When People Are Divorcing Or To Resolve Custody Or Child Support Issues?

How many sessions of mediation you may need to resolve issues in a divorce, custody, or child support case really is going to depend on how complicated your case is and how contentious it has become between you and the other party. When the court orders mediation, you’ll be required to go to two sessions of mediation.

In a mildly contested custody case, a lot of people do resolve their issues in one or two sessions of mediation. So, if it isn’t a situation where the parents are super far apart in terms of what they want for their child, custody issues can be resolved within those one or two sessions fairly often.

With divorce issues, such as property division and alimony, it can be relatively straightforward. If there isn’t a lot of property and there’s only a couple of retirement and bank accounts, then one or two sessions of mediation can certainly resolve the issues. The law is pretty settled on what happens with certain things and, in addition to that, you don’t have a huge amount of assets to squabble over. It can be very easy to determine marital assets, how much they’re worth, and how to divide them.

If both parties are in the spirit of mediation and have a desire to resolve issues, a couple of sessions will typically be enough. Several sessions of mediation may be required for issues that are more highly contested or between parties who are contentious toward one another. Sometimes the parties can be willing to mediate issues, but the situation can be complicated and therefore require more than two sessions of mediation.

If parents live very far apart and have to work out a certain schedule, or if they have a child with special needs, these things may take more time to work out just because they’re complicated situations.

If there are a lot of properties or accounts involved, that can also take more sessions of mediation because it can take longer to establish what’s considered marital property and how to divide it when it isn’t all liquid assets. The division of assets can be complicated and involve the sale of a non-liquid asset and figuring out how the proceeds from that sale will be divided between the parties.

So, the number of sessions of mediation needed will entirely depend on the willingness of the parties and the complexity of the issues.

With the guidance of a skilled attorney for Family Law Cases, you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we’ll make it look easy.  For more information on Family Law in Maryland, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (443) 300-2335 today.