Your mediator will not provide legal advice during mediation.  Remaining neutral is the role of a mediator.  For legal advice regarding your situation, you'll need to consult your own attorney.  Your mediator will help you work through the ramifications of various decisions but will not advise you regarding legal implications.  

Many people choose to use the mediation process to work through all of their issues, reach a tentative agreement, and then review the agreement with an attorney.  Others start with mediation and seek advice from an attorney along the way as needed.  Still others obtain legal advice before scheduling their first mediation session.  You may even decide to bring your attorney with you to mediation.  Many people use mediation to resolve all disputes and never hire an attorney. 

What Are the Benefits of Mediation?

When you choose to mediate, you remain in control of the mediation process.  You decide how many mediation sessions you use, what issues you will address, how you will divide the costs, etc.

Such control is not available when you litigate your divorce because the Court will schedule hearings.  Those hearings are not scheduled at your convenience and you (and your attorney) don't have a choice of whether to attend.  Litigating a divorce can cause the parties great emotional distress and is often counterproductive, time consuming and quite expensive.

People who have litigated their divorces and other family law issues often talk—with great frustration—about feeling that their lives and futures were out of their control when they were in the middle of their divorce.  Mediation allows you to remain in control of the process, your schedule, the expense, and your future.

Mediation provides couples an early opportunity to rationally deal with children, the home, credit cards, personal property, debts, assets and retirement accounts.  It's not easy, but it's far more satisfying and less stressful in the long run.  Most importantly, it lessens the stress on children.

Bring an Open Mind

Come to mediation with an open mind and a commitment to fairness for you, your spouse, and most importantly your children.  If you commit to the mediation process you can emerge from mediation with an agreement that works!

It won't be 100% of what you want, nor will it be 100% of what your spouse wants.  That's the nature of compromise.  But it will likely feel like a fair settlement that you can live with.  And as the years pass, you'll have the benefit of knowing you dealt honorably and respectfully with one another.

How Much Does Mediation Cost?

Lake Harriet Law Office & Mediation Services, LLC offers competitive fees for Divorce and Family Mediation cases.  Parties generally split all mediation-related fees equally, however, in some cases one party may decide to pay more than 50% of the mediation-related fees.  The parties will sign an agreement to mediate at the first mediation session.