Mediation is a process in which two parties sit down with a third party to resolve their legal issues. Mediators in the State of Missouri can be attorneys or trained counselors, both with additional training in mediation. Courts will often order parties who have unresolved custody issues to attend mediation prior to setting the matter for contested litigation.

When parties successfully mediate, they are often much happier with their agreements than a court-ordered judgment and, therefore, more likely to comply, which means less litigation in the future.

Even parties who do not get along can successfully mediate a divorce or custody agreement. Many parties who say they can never reach an agreement through mediation wind up doing so. However, mediation is not appropriate if there has been domestic abuse within the relationship. Mediators are trained to recognize cases that are not appropriate for mediation and to terminate sessions that should be ended.

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