What is Mediation?
In short, mediation is a way for individuals or businesses to come to an agreement on something that may otherwise be difficult to agree upon. The most common situation where mediation is needed is for two people who have decided to end their marriage with a divorce. This is known as family mediation. (Civil mediation is between businesses or non-families that would like to come to an agreement.) Typically, going through a divorce requires each party to find an attorney and can require many trips to the courthouse.
As you can probably imagine, it is not cheap to pay for lawyers to work on your case for you, and it can take a lot of time before a judgement is made at a final hearing to give you the resolution. And at that point, you may or may not be satisfied with the resolution, which can be difficult to change. All of these factors can make mediation such an attractive option.
There are many benefits to choosing mediation over a divorce by trial. According to Wikipedia, there are many benefits to mediation[1], including:
At Streamline Mediation, we offer easy and friendly mediation services for couples going through a divorce in Florida. We not only make sure that you and your spouse come to an agreement on the terms of your divorce, but we prepare all of the complicated forms and documents that are required by the courts. After a brief mediation with us, we'll give you everything you need to go to the courthouse and make your divorce final, without ever needing to fight in court against each other. Rather than leave the important decisions about your future up to a judge, you can decide for yourselves ahead of time what works for both of you, and then go to the courthouse with your agreement in hand already signed.
As you can probably imagine, it is not cheap to pay for lawyers to work on your case for you, and it can take a lot of time before a judgement is made at a final hearing to give you the resolution. And at that point, you may or may not be satisfied with the resolution, which can be difficult to change. All of these factors can make mediation such an attractive option.
There are many benefits to choosing mediation over a divorce by trial. According to Wikipedia, there are many benefits to mediation[1], including:
- Cost—While a mediator may charge a fee comparable to that of an attorney, the mediation process generally takes much less time than moving a case through standard legal channels. While a case in the hands of a lawyer or a court may take months or years to resolve, mediation usually achieves a resolution in a matter of hours. Taking less time means expending less money on hourly fees and costs.
- Confidentiality—While court hearings are public, mediation remains strictly confidential. No one but the parties to the dispute and the mediator(s) know what happened. Confidentiality in mediation has such importance that in most cases the legal system cannot force a mediator to testify in court as to the content or progress of mediation. Many mediators destroy their notes taken during a mediation once that mediation has finished. The only exceptions to such strict confidentiality usually involve child abuse or actual or threatened criminal acts.
- Control—Mediation increases the control the parties have over the resolution. In a court case, the parties obtain a resolution, but control resides with the judge or jury. Often, a judge or jury cannot legally provide solutions that emerge in mediation. Thus, mediation is more likely to produce a result that is mutually agreeable for the parties.
- Compliance—Because the result is attained by the parties working together and is mutually agreeable, compliance with the mediated agreement is usually high. This further reduces costs, because the parties do not have to employ an attorney to force compliance with the agreement. The mediated agreement is, however, fully enforceable in a court of law.
- Mutuality—Parties to a mediation are typically ready to work mutually toward a resolution. In most circumstances the mere fact that parties are willing to mediate means that they are ready to "move" their position. The parties thus are more amenable to understanding the other party's side and work on underlying issues to the dispute. This has the added benefit of often preserving the relationship the parties had before the dispute.
- Support—Mediators are trained in working with difficult situations. The mediator acts as a neutral facilitator and guides the parties through the process. The mediator helps the parties think "outside of the box" for possible solutions to the dispute, broadening the range of possible solutions.[2]
At Streamline Mediation, we offer easy and friendly mediation services for couples going through a divorce in Florida. We not only make sure that you and your spouse come to an agreement on the terms of your divorce, but we prepare all of the complicated forms and documents that are required by the courts. After a brief mediation with us, we'll give you everything you need to go to the courthouse and make your divorce final, without ever needing to fight in court against each other. Rather than leave the important decisions about your future up to a judge, you can decide for yourselves ahead of time what works for both of you, and then go to the courthouse with your agreement in hand already signed.