In Illinois, mediation is likely to be required in a divorce or family matter involving children. If the parties do not have an agreement regarding their child-related issues, they would be required to attend four hours of mediation to address those issues.
Many people are not aware that litigation is not the only option when they’re seeking to get divorced. You may choose to work with an attorney who is trained as a mediator. They help reach a collaborative agreement regarding both your parenting time and decision-making issues, but also regarding your property issues.
Mediation is a collaborative process between the parties and a neutral mediator. The parties and the mediator will meet and discuss the issues that the parties are facing in their separation. This process can be especially helpful in helping parties keep fees down from the litigation process. Divorce and family cases can be tens of thousands of dollars depending on your case issues. The mediation process is also usually less combative than that of the typically litigated case.
Private mediation gives you more time that you can work through your issues than the 4 hours that are required for court purposes. There is no cap on the mediation process when you choose to do it yourself. You, your opposing party, and the mediator can take all the time you believe your case needs to resolve the matter in a way that you and your opposing party feel comfortable.
What can we mediate about?
People can mediate everything from division of the personal property that is contained within the shared home. This includes the division of bank accounts, and parenting issues.
Private Mediation of Parenting Issues
Parents often spend a substantial amount of time in mediation planning through a schedule that works for them. This mediated parenting schedule will include the regular parenting time and any special holidays, or summer breaks. The most specific the mediated agreement, the less opportunity to have disagreements later. The largest benefit to mediating a parenting plan in Illinois is that you know your children better than any judge or Guardian ad Litem will. You will have the information necessary to present the schedule that can best meet your child’s needs and fit the schedules that your family unit previously had in place.
Private Mediation of Property
Property mediations can include everything from who will receive a substantial collection of DVDs, to who will receive what portion of bank accounts, debts, retirement accounts, etc.
How do we keep track of the agreement?
From the private mediation, the parties can take a memorandum of understanding that can be used to help the parties articulate their agreements to the court when they are drafting a settlement agreement and/or Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage.
If you are interested in private mediation services in Illinois, please contact us. We would love to work to engage our services with your opposing party.