Who attends a mediation?

In a family mediation, who should attend? In most of the mediations we do, only the two parents and the mediator attend the mediation. Sometimes the parents find it helpful to have other people participate in mediation.

My practice as a mediator is to allow other people to attend the mediation if both parents agree and if it will be helpful to reaching a resolution. In some cases, we have had a new spouse or significant other attend the mediation. In other cases, a grandparent has attended.

My general rules are 1) both mediation participants need to agree to allow the third party to attend, and 2) the third party has to be helpful for reaching a resolution.

We often have a situation in which one person wants their new spouse to attend and the other participant refuses. In that situation, the new spouse will not be attending. I do allow my mediation clients to take breaks if desired during our sessions. If you want the support and advice of your spouse and the other parent refuses to allow them to attend, feel free to take a break and call your support person.

If you have a special intellectual or emotional need and require the assistance of a support person during the mediation, talk to me before the mediation so that we can determine if a special accommodation needs to be made for your situation.

The main agreements must be made by the two parents in a parenting mediation, but sometimes other individuals can be helpful to reaching a resolution. This is especially true if the other individuals are heavily involved in the life of the child.



In our geographic area it is not common for attorneys to attend the family law mediation with their clients. Some attorneys will talk to their clients before the mediation so that the clients know what to expect. Most of the time, the attorneys get the agreement after the mediation and prepare the paperwork to turn the agreement into a court order. For cases in which clients come to us directly for mediation, we can prepare the paperwork for the court.