Most parties want to be educated as to the law. Many mediators use their prediction of what a court would do along with other standards that parties might want to consider. The law is more subjective than most people expect, and lawyers often disagree about what the law is, as do judges. The law is part [...]

Mediation usually takes less time than litigation. The pace is completely up to the parties, but it is common for the parties to move at different speeds. This can cause severe disagreement. Mediation typically involves a compromise between the pace of the person who is not quite ready for the divorce and that of the person [...]

Mediation is voluntary. Both parties must agree to mediate in order to begin the process, which continues only for so long as both parties and the mediator want it to. Anyone can withdraw from mediation at any time.

For some couples, negotiating directly with each other, even with the help of a mediator, is not possible. That could be because of a) issues such as domestic violence or substance abuse, b) a significant imbalance of perceived personal power between the spouses - or intense emotional reactions - that make one spouse uncomfortable in a [...]