"What is divorce mediation? Is a mediated agreement binding?"

Divorce mediation is an efficient and inexpensive process designed to help people reach the best agreements for them when separating, divorcing, having family disputes, problems at work, complaints with landlords or tenants, and issues with neighbors. A trained professional mediator assists you in obtaining the information you need to resolve these conflicts and to focus on the issues that must be resolved in order to work them out as amicably as possible.

If you are involved in a divorce or another family issue filed with the court, any agreement you reach in mediation may then be filed with the court. You should speak with your divorce lawyer about how this works and what your options are. The court generally reviews the agreement to assure that it conforms to the standards that have been established, such as the child-support guidelines and financial matters.

Brian James is an experienced  divorce and family mediator with offices throughout Chicagoland and Southeastern Wisconsin. He runs a mediation practice, C.E.L. and Associates. He can be reached at (312) 524-5829. View his Divorce Magazine profile.