Answer:

In Georgia, a lot of folks have heard of the term mediation. When you file a divorce, a lot of clients ask during the initial consultation if mediation is right for them. Almost always in our office, we would say the answer would be, yes, that mediation can be very helpful to you and your case. Really, a mediation is where a neutral party goes between the two divorced parties and they would see what kind of resolution you may reach in your case.

Now, from the beginning, it may seem that a resolution is not going to happen for you, but what I would encourage you to do is to try it out, because you may reach an agreement on things that you had no idea that would be possible. We have very good mediators in our circuit and our judges really encourage everyone to attend mediation and really put their best foot forward to try and reach a resolution where there can be one. Especially when it comes to custody issues, it’s very wise for parents to sit down and see what kind of agreement they can reach on parenting time. You may not reach an agreement as to physical custody, but you may reach an agreement on special things that you’re going to do on the 4th of July or Christmas or other special traditions that you and your spouse have with your kids. A judge isn’t going to take the time to really consider those things in any kind of trial. It would be best in a mediation to take the chance, with your attorney in the room and with the mediator going back and forth between the parties, to really try and reach a resolution that fits your kids and your situation. That really would be beneficial to you in any future trial that you may have to show the judge that you put forth a good effort to try and reach an agreement with the parties. Oftentimes, we find that the people who didn’t think they would reach a resolution actually are the folks that will at the end say they’re so glad that they did that. They reached a settlement. The trial was not necessary. It expedited their divorce process. They were extremely happy with the results after attending mediation in their divorce case. If you have any questions about how mediation can help you or whether it would be appropriate for you and your spouse to go do mediation even before filing for divorce, please give our office a call. We’ll help walk you through the steps of how you can achieve a successful mediation.