Mansfield Divorce Lawyer Discusses a Court Ordered Mediation vs. Private

I was recently asked as a Mansfield Divorce Lawyer what the differences are between a court ordered mediation and a private mediation.  In Massachusetts there are a couple of different types of court ordered mediation. One is that occurs in the courthouse after you’ve attended court or you’re going to the court to litigate a disputed issue. Sometimes before you see the judge the judge will send you to family service and family service is in the same building as the courthouse and it’s a court person who’s worked in the court for a long time and generally knows all the issues that people confront when they’re divorcing. The judge will send people to family service if they feel like there’s only a couple of issues that are separating them or that they could benefit from the court family service office.

I advise clients as a Mansfield Divorce Lawyer that some of the counties in Massachusetts have now adopted a conciliation program, if you start the divorce off in a contested divorce the court might send you conciliation.  Conciliation is done by a volunteer lawyer – these are lawyers that volunteer for the court on an approved list – maintained by the court to meet with parties and their lawyers to hear both sides and come up with a recommendation to the court.

The recommendation that the conciliator makes is not binding on the court, the court still has the ultimate authority to make a decision but oftentimes it helps the parties to have a lawyer who is not their lawyer giving an opinion on how an issue should be disposed of.

If you have more questions about court ordered mediation or private mediation, contact our experienced Mansfield Divorce Lawyers.

This educational blog was brought to you by Cynthia Hanley, an experienced Mansfield Divorce Lawyer.