How Much Does Divorce Mediation Cost?

By: Attorney Susan Hansen, ​Co-founder of Family Mediation Center

Cost is an important question for couples considering divorce or other family law issues. Family Mediation Center was created to provide affordable mediation services to help couples reach agreements and navigate the legal process with a minimum of conflict and cost. Here are answers to your cost questions:

How Much Does Mediation Cost?

• The initial calls with a lawyer mediator are free. This assures that each of you can get basic questions answered and understand your options for next steps at no charge.

• An initial two-hour joint meeting with the lawyer mediator is available for a flat fee of $250. At that meeting, you provide an overview of family and financial information, and the lawyer mediator provides legal education and answers your questions about the legal issues, procedures, and documents needed from beginning to end of the court process, and how mediation will help you navigate that process. This joint meeting is a valuable foundation in assuring that each of you makes fully informed decisions before deciding how to proceed.

• If you both decide to proceed with mediation, you can choose between either:
  
  1. point of service payment for lawyer mediation at the rate of $250/hour; or
     
  2. an upfront flat fee of $2,500 for document drafting and up to 3 meetings.

This way you control costs by setting up your own pay-as-you-go payment plan or paying the flat fee.

Is Mediation the Lowest Cost Option?

As a one neutral lawyer process, mediation is much less expensive than if each of you hires your own lawyer. If compared to a do-it-yourself divorce, the answer may be no. Self-help, however, can end up being costly. Some couples start out on their own and then hire lawyers part way through or even complete their divorce themselves but end up returning to court later with post-judgment issues based on misunderstandings or mistakes. This can cost more than using a mediation process from the outset to help you avoid costly mistakes or issues later.

Contact the Family Mediation Center Today

​To schedule a consultation or to receive more information about mediation with the Family Mediation Center, please call us at 414-939-6707 or contact us online.

​All inquiries are confidential.