Online Virtual Divorce Mediation: How It Works and Who It Benefits

Divorce mediation is an alternative to traditional litigation that provides couples the opportunity to settle the terms and conditions of their divorce more quickly, affordably, and peacefully. Couples also maintain greater control over the process, and they are able to customize the settlement agreement based on their unique needs, values, and goals. A recent offshoot of divorce mediation is virtual mediation – a process by which the sessions are conducted in a virtual setting rather than face-to-face.

The Virtual Divorce Mediation Process
Virtual mediation is fast, efficient, and effective. First, an appointment time is scheduled that works for both spouses and any other parties that need to be on the call. This could be, during your lunch hour, while the kids are taking a nap, or whenever you have a spare hour or two.

The session can be conducted via conference call or online through a service such as Zoom. The mediator facilitates a discussion between the parties geared toward coming to a mutually acceptable agreement. Once an agreement is made, documents requiring signatures can usually be signed and transmitted electronically.

The Advantages of Virtual Mediation
The ability to conduct divorce mediation sessions remotely provides several benefits for divorcing spouses, including:

Ease of Access: Conducting a virtual divorce mediation session is much easier than going to a face-to-face meeting with your soon-to-be ex-spouse. All you need is a phone or computer with a high-speed internet connection. And because the sessions can be squeezed in during the middle of a busy schedule, it is generally much easier to set an appointment that works for all parties involved.

Convenience: Couples are able to conduct sessions from work, home, while traveling out of town for business or pleasure, or from wherever they happen to be. Since there is no need to fight traffic traveling to a physical location and wait around for everyone to arrive and get ready, the parties save lots of time and travel costs. Virtual divorce mediation is especially convenient for those who travel a lot and/or have moved out of town, but still want to mediate their divorce settlement.

Provides More Couples the Option of Mediation: Some spouses want to use divorce mediation, but seeing their spouse in person makes them too upset to sit down and have a rational discussion. There are other cases where spouses are even more at odds, but neither wants to go through costly and protracted divorce litigation. In the past, couples in these situations would have had little choice other than to go to court. Virtual divorce mediation changes all that. By speaking remotely, couples can (literally) maintain their distance while they work out their differences in a much more comfortable setting.

Provides More Mediator Choices: If you live in a smaller town or rural area, you may have difficulty finding a divorce mediator in your area. In the past, this would have meant limited choices and/or the need to travel a long distance to meet with a mediator. Virtual divorce mediation changes all that. Now, anyone can take advantage of divorce mediation, regardless of where they live. What’s more, couples now have far more mediators to choose from, allowing them to select the one they feel most comfortable working with.