...
(303) 725-1007
·
info@myfamilymediation.com
·
Mon - Sun 9:00am-5::00pm
Schedule

Mediation Fees

Fees and Factors that define overall cost of mediation

Mediation-How Much Does Mediation Cost?

Elements of Mediation Costs

The Very Basics of Mediation Costs

Quick Example, Parties complete a Divorce without Minor children in 4 hours, the Fees would be:

Mediation Hours X Mediator Rate + Document Fee + Court Fee = Total Fee
4 Hours $95/Hour + $300 +$115 = $795.00/ EACH

 

Things To Know First

There are several factors that can impact the overall cost of mediation. These factors may be different for each client. While it’s not possible to always know what the total cost will be at the start it’s just important to understand what the typical averages are how the different factors affect them.

The Complicating Factors that affect costs are:

  • Type of Mediation. The base estimated cost will be determined by the type of Mediation. Obviously a Full Divorce will cost more than a modification to child support.
  • Level of Conflict. If the couple has higher levels of conflict it can double or triple the base cost of the mediation. Usually marked by deep and intense emotions of anger, involvement of layers, involvement of the Court the intensity of the conflict can dramatically affect the overall costs. People need more time to work through their emotions, develop any benevolence for the other party and to feel like they are being heard all can add hours to a mediation.
  • Complexity of Financial Matters. High net worth and high earning couples tend to require more time to adequately work through their financial interests. There may be businesses or real estate holdings to have a valuation assessed, or there may be complicated income streams that need to be defined, and all lead to additional hours.
  • Psychological and Emotional Complications. The presence of mental illness or substance abuse can add more time to deal with the additional care and attention required to navigate these factors.
  • Attorney Involvement. When parties are represented by attorneys not only the total cost will be higher for the client when including the lawyer fees, but the work performed in mediation may be impacted to require more time, depending on the nature of the parties, the case subject matter and the attorneys.
  • Additional Mediator Support. When higher than usual participation of the mediator is required it can add hours to the mediation. If the mediator utilizes Shuttle Mediation for example it requires separating the parties and serving as a go-between to facilitate the negotiations. This results typically in additional time and possibly additional expenses if meeting in person due to the need for multiple offices. Needing additional time from the mediator along to way to help be more active in supporting the clients can result in additional time as well.
These are averages based on years of actual client cases and actual expenses may vary.

Base Average Fees of Mediation Services

Mediation Service Average Base Fees Average Cost Per Person
Divorce or Legal Separation with Children $1,890 $945
Divorce or Legal Separation without Children $1,170 $585
Modification of Child Support $490 $245
Establishing a New Parenting Plan $1,020 $510
Modification of Parenting Plan $830 $415
Post Decree Mediation $570 $285

 

Mediation Additional Charges

Mediation Charge Additional Fee Cost Per Person
DRO Preparation $90 $47.50
In-Office Charge per hour $50 $25
In-Office Shuttle (2 offices) per hour $100 $50
Averages from actual client fees. Actual fees may vary for individual cases.

Mediation Scenarios and Costs

Select a Scenario

  • Divorce With Kids-Simple
  • Divorce with Kids-with Factor
  • Divorce with Kids-Several Factors
  • Divorce without Kids-Simple
  • Divorce without Kids- With Factor
  • Divorce without Kids- Several Factors
  • Very Complex and Complicated Cases
Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce/Legal Separation with Minor Children-Average

This is a typical Mediation that includes 6 hours of mediation time and preparation of all Court Forms. The Parties work together using Virtual Mediation and generally get along on almost all matters and neither party is in the grip of any significant mental or emotional force. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,890     $1,890
Level of Conflict   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Additional Mediator Support   None $0 +$0
Total*       $1,890 Total or $945 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce with Kids with higher level of conflict

This is a common Mediation scenario that requires additional hours of mediation time but still includes preparation of all Court Forms. The Parties work together using Virtual Mediation and while they butt heads frequently they usually resolve things and neither party is in the grip of any significant mental or emotional force. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,890     $1,890
Level of Conflict   6 out of 10 +3 Hours +$570
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Additional Mediator Support   Additional time for offline communication and private caucuses. + 2 Hours +$380
Total*       $2,840 Total or $1,420 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce with Kids - High Conflict and High Emotional Complexity

The Parties are dealing with more intense than normal emotional or psychological challenges that add challenges to a negotiation. This is a more challenging Mediation that adds significantly more mediation time but still includes preparation of all Court Forms. Even though it adds significant time and cost it is immeasurably cheaper than throwing the matter to lawyers to fight it out. The Parties can’t work together effectively using Virtual Mediation and require the Mediator to utilize Shuttle Mediation. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,890     $1,890
Level of Conflict   8 out of 10 + 8 Hours +$2,850
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   8 out of 10 +7 Hours +$1,330
Additional Mediator Support   Several Offline Interviews and Private Caucuses +4 Hours +$760
Total*       $6,830 Total or $3,415 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce/Legal Separation without Minor Children-Average

This is a typical Mediation without minor children that includes 3 hours of mediation time and preparation of all Court Forms. The Parties work together using Virtual Mediation and generally get along on almost all matters and neither party is in the grip of any significant mental or emotional force. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,170     $1,170
Level of Conflict   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Additional Mediator Support   None $0 +$0
Total*       $1,170 Total or $585 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce without Kids with higher level of conflict

This is a fairly common Mediation scenario that requires additional hours of mediation time but still includes preparation of all Court Forms. The Parties work together using Virtual Mediation and while they butt heads frequently they usually resolve things and neither party is in the grip of any significant mental or emotional force. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,170     $1,170
Level of Conflict   6 out of 10 +3 Hours +$570
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   3 out of 10 $0 +$0
Additional Mediator Support   Additional time for offline communication and private caucuses. + 2 Hours +$380
Total*       $2,120 Total or $1,060 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Includes Mediation Session Time and Court Form Preparation.

Divorce without Kids - High Conflict and High Emotional Complexity

The Parties are dealing with more intense than normal emotional or psychological challenges that add challenges to a negotiation. This is a more challenging Mediation that adds significantly more mediation time but still includes preparation of all Court Forms. Even though it adds significant time and cost it is immeasurably cheaper than throwing the matter to lawyers to fight it out. The Parties can’t work together effectively using Virtual Mediation and require the Mediator to utilize Shuttle Mediation. Parties work directly with the Mediator and do not have outside legal representation. Financial situation is average with a marital home, some retirement, some credit card debt, etc.

  Mediation Base Fee Factor Adjustment Average Total Fee
Base $1,170     $1,170
Level of Conflict   8 out of 10 + 5 Hours +$950
Financial Complexity   5 out of 10 $0 +$0
Emotional Complexity   8 out of 10 +6 Hours +$1,140
Additional Mediator Support   Several Offline Interviews and Private Caucuses +3 Hours +$570
Total*       $3,830 Total or $1,915 Each Person

*Court Filing Fees, Parenting Class and other third party costs not included.

Very Complex Cases with numerous factors that affect cost

As Complexity and Complicating Factors begin to Layer on a case the costs can shoot out of a reasonable realm. When you add high net worth and high income dynamics, large disparities in income/earning ability all the forces feed off of each other and exponentially drive up costs. Typically the limit is contained by the Parties ability to pay for legal services, but unfortunately many couples transition from marriage in severe debt due to their legal fees. 

When high income and high net worth is combined with other intense factors cost determination stops being measured in hours and starts being evaluated in percentage of net worth. In other words, how much legal service can you afford. If you are worth $500MM for example and legally defending a spouse who is vengefully plundering the marital property, one could imagine spending millions ( and they do!) in order to protect something that is worth far more than the cost of the legal fees.

For most Fees compound when these multiple factors are not properly managed by the parties and their lawyers and mediators. Anger combined with access to large sums of money is a dangerous combination. Then when you process that combination through an already expensive process like lawyer led dispute resolution, you get the perfect storm for you emerging from the divorce process having successfully transferred significant amounts of your wealth to your legal practitioners. Sadly, after it all it doesn’t fix the internal issues and in fact can make them worse when you realize you are poorer and the money spent didn’t make you fell that much better.

If you have a case like this, it is important to alert the Mediator up front and before any negotiating takes place make sure the negotiation is properly safeguarded. This means first negotiating on how the negotiations will proceed. For example, both Parties can agree to cease their litigation efforts while they negotiate. They can agree to segregate mediation topics based on sensitivity (such as claims of mental instability, etc). They can agree that any mediation terms that cannot be resolved after a reasonable effort in mediation, shall be referred to a Special Master or Arbitrator, or to refer the remaining issue to the Court. This is sometimes called Bifurcating the Agreement so you capture the value of agreements that can be made in mediation and only having the Arbitrator or the Court focused on the remaining issues. This can save tremendous amounts of money and make the most of a difficult situation.

In general the fastest way to drive up the costs as much as possible is to simultaneously be in the grip of intense emotions AND delegate the whole matter to your lawyer. More than anything else these two forces are responsible for crippling legal fees. If this is just where you happen to be at the moment, perhaps the Mediator can work with the Parties with a Marital Agreement until some improvement is achieved on the emotional side. This agreement is a negotiated outcome that can serve to protect the marital property from either party while someone goes to treatment for their emotional challenges, substance abuse, or other issues that might negatively affect them in a negotiation. Then once the situation has stabilized, a reasonable negotiation could take place and the Parties can retain more of their hard earned wealth and sustain more of their self respect too,

Fee Comparisons: Lawyers VS Our Clients

Mouse over each box to flip to the alternative fees and results when comparing Our Clients with industry averages of using Lawyers and other Mediation firms.

Divorce without Children Using Lawyers

Average for Lawyer led resolutions

Average Cost Per Person: $10,500.00

Average Timeframe: 11 Months

  • Ranges between $4,000 and $14,300 and from 8 months to 15 months based on level of issues (Property/Debt, Alimony, etc)
  • Tend to Favor higher wage earner (more resources to pay legal bills)
  • Higher likelihood of punitive Spousal Maintenance Orders.
  • Many times higher Spousal Maintenance Settlements are offset by Legal debt, minimizing realized value (i.e. spendable monthly dollars)  to Party who needs it.
  • Success Rate defined as when Parties voluntarily accept final agreement as reasonable: 57%
  • Source: lawyers.com

 

Divorce without Children -Our Clients

Average costs for Our Clients

Average Cost:$1,170.00

Average Timeframe: 6 Weeks

  • Financial Disclosures
  • Financials Mediation
  • All Court Forms
  • 1 Hour Pre-Mediation Consultation
  • Fixed Price Documentation Fee
  • This Total Cost is split between the Parties ($585 each)

Divorce with Children Using Lawyers

Average cost using Lawyer led resolution

Average Cost Per Person: $21,700.00

Average Timeframe: 15 Months

  • Ranges between $5,000 and $40,000
  • Easy to Lose Control of Matter with Parenting  Issues escalating up to Court-Appointed experts at times.
  • Less Creativity in Sensitive Cases
  • Lawyers are high cost and difficult to stop once started.
  • Tend to escalate conflict as a means of negotiation which is not good for the Children
  • Success Rate defined as when Parties voluntarily accept final agreement as reasonable: 29%
  • Source: ​Lawyers.com

Divorce with Children -Our Clients

Average cost for Our Clients

Average Cost:$1,700.00

Average Timeframe: 7 Weeks

  • Parenting Plan Mediation
  • Financials Mediation
  • Financial Disclosures
  • All Court Forms
  • 1 Hour Pre-Mediation Consultation
  • Fixed Price Documentation Fee
  • This Total Cost is split between the Parties ($850 each)

Divorce with Children using Industry Mediator Averages

Average Cost if Parties utilize Mediator without Attorneys

Average Cost: $6,500.00

Average Timeframe: 18 Weeks

  • Ranges between $2,000 and $10,000
  • Attorney/Mediators often have neutrality complaints
  • Mediation  is Unregulated
  • Hybrid Mediators (e.g. Therapist/Mediators, etc) tend to their Non-Mediator Discipline
  • Watch out for Mediators who work out solutions after meeting with only One of the Parties!
  • Source: Study, featured in the July 2005 issue of Money magazine

 

Divorce with Children -Our Clients

Average Cost our Clients when Not utilizing Attorneys

Average Cost:$1,700.00

Average Timeframe: 7 Weeks

  • Parenting Plan Mediation
  • Financials Mediation
  • Financial Disclosures
  • All Court Forms
  • 1 Hour Pre-Mediation Consultation
  • Fixed Price Documentation Fee
  • This Total Cost is split between the Parties ($850 each)