With or without lawyers we can MEDIATE your Family Law Dispute

The Parties are required to sign an agreement to mediate which outlines the specifics of the process and respective requirements. They will decide to have either an open or closed mediation and the degree of documentary disclosure. Most Parties choose closed mediation as it is private and confidential. This means that neither Party nor the mediator may give evidence in a legal proceeding about what was said during the mediation.

In most cases each Party will be required to provide at least a financial statement and potentially other documentation to ensure discussions are open and canvass all the issues properly. Once an agreement is reached, the mediator may draft a mediation agreement based on your discussions. I always recommend that each Party have the mediation agreement reviewed by a qualified family lawyer and drafted into a legally binding separation agreement. Your respective lawyers may attend the mediation, but it is not required, nor are the Parties required to have a lawyer other than to obtain independent legal advice after the mediation agreement has been reached thus saving cost.

Your mediation agreement is not binding until it is transcribed into a duly executed a separation agreement. After which, the Parties can choose to file it with the court, however, that is not necessary. So long as the agreement is duly executed, the terms are legally binding and enforceable. Successful mediation requires that both spouses be willing to make concessions on the issues being discussed.

We are accredited mediators.