Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution required by the judicial process in Maine.
Mediation is required for all family law cases in which the parties have not come to agreement on all issues, unless the Court allows the parties to waive mediation. Generally, you cannot get a contested hearing without having gone to mediation to try to work out your differences. A mediator is a discussion facilitator, not a judge, arbitrator or decision maker. It is the mediator's job to help the parties work toward an agreement, but the mediator has no decision making power as to what the agreement should say. In mediation, the decision making power remains with the parties.