How to Prepare for Family Mediation

When parents cannot agree on issues such as custody and parenting time, how a child should be raised or what religious beliefs they should be taught, family mediation is often the best solution. TMG offers family mediation services to help couples and families resolve disagreements about marriage, separation, divorce, custody, parenting schedules, child support, alimony, property division, elder care and estate planning.

Unlike judges, mediators are not required to “tell” parties how they should resolve their issues or impose their resolution on them. Mediation is not just about resolving issues but also addressing the emotions and concerns of both parties and identifying areas for compromise.

While it is not uncommon for discussion to become emotional, it is important that everyone remain focused on what is in the best interests of the children. It is not productive to assign blame or play the “blame game” and can undermine the progress that has been made. Having enough sleep the night before is helpful to prevent irritability and a desire to fight during your session.

It is also a good idea to bring a calendar with all field excursions, holidays, parent-teacher conferences and other dates that may be important for the parents to consider when discussing a schedule. The calendar should also list all extracurricular activities the children participate in and the times for signing up. These are useful for evaluating and explaining scheduling options to the mediator during the mediation.