Mediation is a voluntary, assisted, decision-making process. A trained mediator helps guide you and your spouse or other family member through the decisions necessary to a separation, divorce or other family matter.

Our mediators have been trained in conflict resolution, communication, the divorce process, understanding children’s needs, parenting issues, how violence, drugs, and alcohol can affect physical safety and decision-making and psychological disabilities. Our mediators understand the importance of safety, thoroughness and promptness to emotional healing. Mediation is not therapy, but it can bring relief by getting completion and closure and getting on with other things with much less time and expense than in the litigation process.

The mediator does not make decisions for you or tell you how issues should be decided. Instead, the mediator facilitates your discussion. Mediation offers you neutral listening, equal power, understanding of the legal process and issues that must be decided, and protection against name-calling and abusive conflict. Mediation is voluntary. To agree, both people must understand and freely and voluntarily agree.

You can use mediation to resolve certain problems or to resolve all issues needed to agree on the terms for separation and divorce. You can also use mediation to begin healing your relationship by increasing understanding and resolving the feelings and choices that have often replaced respect and appreciation with blame and fault.

When you reach agreement in mediation, you sign a binding Mediated Memorandum of Understanding. The signed Memorandum may then be incorporated into a final divorce judgment. You may each want and can have your own attorney advise you before mediation or at any time during the mediation process, although attorneys do not ordinarily participate in the mediation sessions. The mediators are not permitted to draft the final divorce papers.

The entire mediation process is legally confidential. No attorney or court will force you, your spouse or the mediator to disclose things said in mediation or prepared for the mediation. Only three kinds of information must be disclosed, 1) the agreement to mediate, the fact of the mediation itself and any agreement reached in mediation; 2) information that you both agree is not to be confidential; and 3) violent crimes or threats of violent crimes.

We advise you both to have the Memorandum reviewed by your own attorney prior to signing it. We can recommend reviewing attorneys.