Divorce Mediation: Pros and Cons

Divorce mediation can help to remove the stress from ending your marriage. Nathalie Elliott has more than 25 years of experience helping clients with their family law needs and this includes mediation. The process of mediation is meant to resolve the issues of terminating a marriage in a less contentious environment than a courtroom provides. With that said, mediation is not going to be the answer to every situation and it’s important to be aware of that before choosing to proceed with divorce mediation in your own circumstances. 

What is Mediation?

Divorce mediation explores options for resolution that serve the family’s needs. Instead of leaving important decisions up to a judge, mediation allows divorcing couples, with the help of a divorce mediator, to resolve the issues in their case in the best way for their family. The Family Law Practice at Levy Craig understands that divorce is something that most people don’t have much experience with. That’s why we want to offer advice on the pros and cons of this process.

Pros

Family Focused and Child Centered

In mediation, parents work together to design the best plan for their children. Nathalie has experience helping families discuss options and solutions for their issues that work best for their family. You and your partner know your family’s needs better than anyone else, we just want to give you the structure to talk about how to handle these topics in an effective and healthy way.

Flexible Structuring and Scheduling

The number of sessions required depends on the number and complexity of your issues. Each session lasts about two hours. These sessions can be scheduled to meet your specific needs as a family. After each session, Nathalie will prepare a written summary and send it to the parties to document the agreements they reached and the issues they are still working on.

Confidential

This process is strictly confidential. Both parties can freely and openly discuss options and ideas and listen to the concerns and ideas of the other party in a safe environment. There’s no courtroom to air your affairs in front of. Additionally, the choices of what to do are being made by you and your partner rather than a judge. The discussions that occur in the mediation process are not permitted to be repeated in court.

Cons

Divorce mediation is not compulsory, meaning you and your former spouse must both be willing to tackle these issues together. The mediation process only works if both parties can agree to a resolution, which can be an issue. There also needs to be a high level of trust as it is much more difficult to come to a resolution if either party is withholding information from the other. If any of these conditions are true for your relationship, you might consider other methods.

If you need a mediator or other family law services in the Kansas City metro area, Nathalie Elliott is here to help. Nathalie offers a child centered, family focused mediation process intended to reduce the stress and tension of the divorce process as much as possible. You can call us at (816) 454-7474 to start the process or click here for other contact methods.