Is Mediation the Answer?
Updated: Apr 12
My simple answer is - no.
Mediation is a process where you and your spouse work together with a firm to arrive at an agreement. The goal is that through the mediation process you and your spouse will agree on visitation and support.
Unless you are in full agreement, this process fails because it requires one party to back down and give in. From my experience, the person who is most likely to back down is the party who is most concerned about the children. The party who is willing to hurt the children always has the advantage
If both parties agree, there may not be much savings if you use mediation. It will still cost thousands of dollars. Those offering mediation say that it is less stressful because there is no motivation to create conflict, a strategy that helps family law attorneys. But the motivation of the mediator is not to push for a fair deal but to get an agreement signed.
If you agree on everything, then you should just do it yourself. It will be stressful, but it will save you a lot of money. There are lots of resources available on YouTube to help you fill out the forms. Everything can be filed online in most courts now. There is help available through the court's website. It worth taking a shot at it.