What to Bring to Your Divorce Mediation
Oct. 27, 2022
The process of mediation can feel overwhelming, but the mediator is there to help you come to an agreement that both sides can live with and use their experience to help overcome the obstacles of division in the marital estate.
As you’re getting ready for your mediation session, here are some of the important things to prepare for:
Come with as much information as possible on the assets, income, and debts. One way this can be accomplished is through completing the Sworn Financial Statement ahead of the mediation. The other is to come with the ability to access all your accounts should a value be needed (bank accounts, retirement accounts, credit cards, mortgage statements, W2’s, Tax Returns).
Walk through the Separation agreement and Parenting Plan (if applicable) documents so that you are ready for the questions and discussions that will come up during mediation.
Try to identify the major issues in dispute (most times that is either something with the division of assets or a parenting plan issue, but could be just about anything as each relationship is different). Knowing compromise is part of the process, we would also recommend you make your own note of how much you might compromise on that issue.
But over and above that, come in with an attitude that’s positive, open-minded, and is willing to make some compromises, and to really listen to what the needs are of the other party. That can be really difficult when you’re in a divorcing situation and you obviously have lost trust for the other person, but if you can empathize at all with what the other party needs, that’s the best way for couples divorcing to resolve their disputes.