How long does family mediation take?

Mediation is now the most common way of making decisions about financial settlements and arrangements for children during divorce. One of the main reasons for this is because mediation is typically much faster than other options, such as applying to a court to decide these issues for you.

There is no set timeframe for how long mediation takes as this will depend on various factors, including how complicated the issues are that you need to sort out, how easily you and your former partner can reach an agreement and your schedules.

However, in most cases, mediation will last around 3-5 sessions of about 1-2 hours, typically with around a week between sessions. This means mediation can generally be concluded in about a month to 6 weeks, depending on the circumstances.

How you can help make mediation faster

There are various things you can do to help mediation go faster, including:

Setting clear goals – If you and your former spouse can agree the specific points you need to sort out before you start mediation, this will allow the sessions to be more focused and productive. You are then likely to waste less time and reach agreements faster.

Being prepared – Having all of the right information to hand when you start mediation will allow you to work through the issues more efficiently. What information you need will depend on the circumstances, but you will normally include things like records of your assets and their value, as well as estimates of your living costs (if your aim is to make a financial settlement).

Being willing to compromise – The nature of mediation is that you are likely to have to compromise on certain issues in order to reach an agreement both of you can accept. Going into mediation with the mindset that you are going to get everything your own way is likely to make the process take much longer or to fail entirely.

Keeping your schedule flexible – Mediation is usually planned one session at a time, meaning you will agree whether another session is needed and schedule this in at the end of each session. Keeping your schedule as open as possible during the mediation process can make it easier to agree a time for the next session with your ex-spouse and the mediator, allowing the whole process to be concluded sooner.

Why mediation is faster than going to divorce court

There are several ways mediation is faster than dealing with your divorce through the courts, but one of the main ones is that you do not have to wait for a hearing date. Instead, you can schedule your first mediation session as soon as you, your former spouse and a mediator are available.

Because mediation is less formal, you also do not need to spend as much time preparing as you would for court. That said, you will still need to have a clear breakdown of all your financial assets and it is strongly recommended that you consult with an expert family lawyer before going to mediation. This helps to ensure you are clear about your legal position, which issues you may need to compromise on and where you need to hold firm.

Other benefits of mediation for divorce

There are many other reasons to use mediation for your divorce besides just saving time, including:

Lower legal fees – The legal costs involved in mediation are normally much lower than if you need to go to court or use other Alternative Dispute Resolution options, such as collaborative law.

Less conflict – A key goal of mediation is to avoid unnecessary conflict by encouraging you and your former partner to work together to agree solutions, rather than going to court and arguing your cases before a judge. Keeping conflict to a minimum can make divorce much less stressful for everyone involved and is particularly beneficial if you have children together.

Staying in control – All of the decisions about your finances and children will be made jointly by you and your former spouse, rather than placing these decisions into the hands of a judge. This can allow you to avoid a lot of uncertainty and stress, as well as the risk of the judge making a decision you would find hard to live with.

Privacy – Unlike court proceedings, mediation takes place in private, meaning your finances and other personal matters do not need to be shared with the public.

Speak to us today about using mediation for your divorce

At Atkins Hope, our expert team of family mediation solicitors are on hand to make sure that your divorce mediation is as swift, straight forward and effective as possible. We can assist you with preparing for mediation, helping the process to run more smoothly and efficiently, as well as reviewing any agreement you make to ensure it protects your interests.

We also offer mediation in-house, with our head of Matrimonial Law, Juliet Adelman, being a fully qualified mediator and Resolution-accredited specialist in Child Abduction and Matrimonial Finances (Advanced). Juliet is able to offer a highly effective mediation service, using her expertise to help resolve the challenging issues that are associated with divorce.

For clear, practical advice about everything involved in the mediation process, please get in touch with our specialist family mediation solicitors in Croydon, Medway, Blackheath and Guildford now.