ABOUT FAMILY MEDIATION

Private - Safe - Positive
Family mediation provides parties in conflict with a method for resolving family issues in a private, safe, and positive environment. A neutral third party, the mediator, facilitates communication and helps people gather information, clarify the important issues, and stay focused on finding solutions, reaching agreement, and making informed decisions. In mediation, the parties make all decisions about the outcome.

Cooperative
In mediation, family members reach agreement cooperatively, rather than in a competitive struggle. The mediator is not a judge or an arbitrator who imposes a decision on people, but a trained professional who helps them to find their own resolutions to their specific conflicts and concerns. Since the mediation process is designed to insure that decisions are jointly made and address the values and needs of the specific individuals involved, mediation participants report a high degree of satisfaction with the final outcomes and a willingness to comply with all agreements long-term.

Consultants May Be Used
During the mediation process, other professionals and experts may be consulted to provide the parties with the information they need to make truly informed decisions. These expert resources include: tax and financial planners, attorneys, child psychologists, real estate specialists and business appraisers. When these specialists function as neutral information providers and are jointly selected and approved, their cost, in both time and money, is often greatly reduced.

Memorandum of Understanding
When all of the issues have been resolved and the terms and timetable decided upon by the parties, a written agreement or Memorandum of Understanding is drafted by the mediator and sent to be reviewed by the consulting attorneys for each party.

Cost Effective - Less Stressful
Family members often select mediation because it is a cost effective and less stressful method for resolving issues and reaching agreement. Other reasons commonly cited include: privacy concerns, the desire to resolve matters fairly and in our own way, wanting a more supportive environment, having control of both the process and the final outcomes, and preferring an approach which improves communication both short and long-term. Mediation is often less costly than litigation, since it does not rely on time-consuming court hearings and discovery procedures, and makes efficient use of expert professionals.

Professionally Trained - Various Backgrounds
Although mediators come from a variety of professional backgrounds and may be attorneys, social workers, psychologists, family counselors, members of the clergy, or financial specialists, they also receive specialized training in the mediation process.