Stillings & Buchinger, LLC

Wisconsin Divorce mediation

neenah :: menasha :: appleton :: oshkosh :: fond du lac :: dodgeville ::
green bay :: sheboygan :: manitowoc :: Berlin :: Wisconsin

What Is Mediation?

Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process. A mediator is an impartial third party who helps people resolve disputes. Through mediation, the parties resolve their dispute (or disputes) forming an agreement. During the process, the mediator facilitates communications, provides legal guidance, and helps the parties focus on the matters at hand. When the parties form their agreement, the mediation process is over. The mediator sets that agreement to written form.

Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution process.
A mediator facilitates the mediation meeting.
The parties agree to their own terms.
The mediator constructs the legally binding agreement
exactly as the parties agreed during the mediation.
The mediation agreement is binding.

court ordered mediation

Court ordered mediation such as that which a court may order during a divorce or custody battle differs from voluntary mediation.

Court ordered mediation - divorce & child custody

Whenever a divorce involves a child born to those spouses, custody is an issue that must be resolved. Wisconsin courts prefer spouses to have their custody and marital property issues resolved before the final divorce hearing, but that is not always possible. When agreements cannot be reached, Wisconsin courts will often order the spouses into "court ordered mediation".

Wisconsin law encourages both parents to be involved
in their children's lives on a regular and meaningful basis.

Wisconsin law encourages parental involvement in the daily lives of all children born to a marriage even after divorce. However, that does not mean that the courts will automatically split placement 50-50 for each parent, nor will courts readily split children up in a divorce to place one (or more) with each parent. Rather, Wisconsin courts seek to order placement in a manner that is in the best interest of the children, not the parents.

If you cannot agree on custody matters, then the court can require you to participate in Mediation. That type of court ordered mediation is a process in which you and your spouse work with a trained social worker or psychologist to work out an agreement. If you cannot form an agreement, then the court can order custody as the court finds to be in the child's best interests.

Free initial consultation

Attorney Gordon E. Stillings and Attorney Melody Buchinger offer a free initial consultation.