What is mediation?
Mediation is a non adversarial way of coming to an agreement about certain issues. These issues can include marriage breakdown, civil disputes and even certain criminal charges. Mediation allows the parties involved to reach their own settlement rather than having lawyers or the court work it out for them.

How can mediation help in a marriage breakdown?
Mediation is particularly useful in the event of marriage breakdown. Divorce is an emotional event, especially if children are involved. It is important to figure out

• how you are going to live apart,
• how you will divide money and property, as well as
• the care and custody of your children.

Mediation can be a helpful and less acrimonious way of arriving at these answers.

However, mediation is not a type of marriage counseling or therapy. The focus at this stage is to achieve a practical separation agreement rather than attempting reconciliation.

There are two main areas that are referred for mediation - parenting issues and financial issues. The former deals with questions about custody and access and the latter, questions about support and division of property.

What are the advantages of mediation?
A bitter divorce can be detrimental to all involved. Research has consistently established that children in particular, suffer in this situation. Where there are children, the parties will have to continue to cooperate even after the divorce. Therefore, it is in everyone's best interest to find a better way to resolve differences - for many that is mediation.

Mediation offers many advantages, including

• More long lasting results, since any agreement is your agreement, not the courts.
• Saving time and money.
• Providing a way of settling future disputes.

Who are the players and what are their respective roles?
Mediator - A neutral third party, called a mediator, will help you and your spouse define the specific issues you need to work out. The mediator acts as a facilitator, assisting you to better communicate and to come up with solutions you can both live with.

The mediator will contact the parties to arrange the initial appointment. He or she will establish regular sessions. The mediator will keep the parties' lawyers informed of the progress and will submit copies of his report to them.

Lawyer - The lawyer will screen clients to determine if mediation is an option. He or she will explain the mediation process and assist the client in finding a mediator. The lawyer will clarify the issues to be mediated and review the memorandum of settlement.

Client - The client will commit to a particular mediator and will agree on the issues to be mediated. He or she will attend the mediation sessions and will work towards an agreement.

How does mediation work?

• Mediation will usually take four to eight meetings held weekly or when convenient. The number of sessions will depend on the complexity of the issues and the ability of the parties to make decisions.
• Ground rules will be established and the issues for resolution will be identified at the first session.
• The interests and needs of all will be clarified and communicated.
• Resolution options for each issue will be assessed and the optimum settlement will be negotiated.
• The cost of mediation can vary greatly. You can expect to pay between $50 and $150 per hour. This cost is generally shared. While this may seem expensive, the cost of litigation will generally far exceed the cost of mediation.