The Mediation Process

Once the Questionnaires have been reviewed by the mediator, the next step is to involve all necessary parties in defining the scope of the mediation, with the mediator's concurrence, in order to provide a structured framework for the mediation to begin. This step is particularly crucial in estate and probate matters, in which various parties and interests may be involved, and the parties may agree that some, but not all, of the issues are to be included within the scope of mediation. For example:

• The parties may agree that financial accountings and distributions of real property are not at issue, but disagree over distributions of particular heirlooms or other real property.
• Some parties may think or feel that the Personal Representative of an Estate is not providing all the information they need, or may disagree with the information they have been provided.
• Wounded feelings and lack of information are often bigger barriers to resolution than financial interests. Facilitated communication among parties may go a long way toward improving present and future relationships among family members.