Divorce often requires coordinated resolution of parenting, property, support, and other ancillary matters. These interrelated issues require reliable financial and practical information, and their resolution often necessitates coordination across the universe of issues involved in a specific case.
How Mediation Helps In This Context
The session allows participants to address the full scope of associated issues in the matter, finalizing information exchange if necessary to resolve any questions surrounding the facts of the case. In session, the parties can evaluate immediate global settlement, or isolate which issues can be resolved, and which should be staged, with sequencing adjusted as needed to maintain progress. In this confidential setting, they can address the uncertainty of how the matter may be decided if it continues through litigation, the cost and time involved in continuing, and whether further proceedings are likely to produce a materially different result. They can also address how positions and communication are affecting progress, including whether adjustments to the discussion structure would assist in moving the matter forward, particularly where positions have narrowed. Discussions in furtherance of resolution often maintain attention on practical implementation so agreements can be carried out without delay or further conflict. In many matters, movement depends on how parenting, financial, and property decisions interact, and addressing those components together often affects how proposals are developed as well as evaluated.
Common Issues
- Parenting and parental responsibility
- Equitable distribution and valuation questions
- Support terms and expense allocations
- Implementation logistics and timelines
Some Considerations For Counsel Preparing For Mediation
- Identify the key decisions that unlock progress
- Bring documents necessary to those decisions
- Identify any third-party approvals that may be needed for certain issues, including property or financial terms, such as lender, title, or plan administrator confirmations.
- When possible, and if appropriate, bring draft language for parenting or financial terms so the group can work from shared text during the session.