What is a Family Law Mediation and How do I Prepare For It?
What is a family law mediation?
Family law mediations are informal meetings between the parties with their divorce lawyers and a third party mediator. The mediator is typically a neutral party and they do not give legal advice. This means that they do not take sides and they can’t make decisions for you.
They are private and are without prejudice. This means that the information shared in a mediation cannot be used as evidence at trial. The parties can learn details and facts about a case through the discussions held at mediation, but those discussions cannot be used as evidence in the litigation proceeding.
The goal of mediation is to resolve issues and agree on possible solutions in the family law case.
What happens at a family law mediation?
In family law, you and your divorce lawyer can choose to mediate instead of going to trial, to try to settle your family law case. The mediators will guide the parties through the different issues and negotiate each issue one at a time. The issues can include spousal support, child support, parenting arrangements and division of property. When the parties agree on each issue, the mediator or the divorce lawyers can prepare minutes of settlement, parenting agreements, and even separation agreements. Be patient, because it can sometimes take several mediations with your divorce lawyer to get through all the issues.
How are family law mediations useful?
Mediations can be useful as they bring the parties together with the benefit of a neutral third party to guide the parties through the issues. They can be useful if you and your divorce lawyers are in a deadlock and unable to agree on any issues in the family law proceeding. They are also private which means the public cannot have access to the information in the family law proceeding, as opposed to trials that become public information once a judgment is rendered.
When are mediations not useful?
Mediations may not be appropriate when there are issues of family violence, or if getting the parties into one room could cause conflict. However, most mediators are very well trained when it comes to family violence, and they are sensitive to the circumstances. Typically, they will have a set of questions sent to the parties and their divorce lawyers prior to mediation to determine whether mediation would be the best approach. If necessary, mediation can be done where the parties are not in the same room, and the mediator can go back and forth between the respective rooms to assist with resolution of their family law issues.
How to prepare for a family law mediation?
You should have already shared all financial disclosure, and come prepared with your position on the different issues on spousal support, child support, parenting arrangements and division of property. It would be ideal if you share all financial information prior to the mediation so that each party can assess the case and come to the table with a proposal.
You should also have done counselling prior to mediation so that you are ready to agree on issues of separation. Often times, if you have not dealt with issues through counselling, you may not ready to make decisions on them.
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The material provided in this blog is for general information and education purposes only and does not contain, and should not be construed as containing, legal advice applicable to a particular set of facts. If you require legal advice, please contact us for a consultation with one of our experienced family law lawyers (Abby Pang, LLB; Lisa Harris, JD)
