Self-Determination

Mediation empowers each party to voluntarily resolve a difficult situation in a private setting.  Although the parties may choose to make a record of their mediated settlement in a public forum, the mediation process is private, confidential, and voluntary. The parties make all the decisions, the mediator is only there to help.

  Adversarial proceedings in estate and probate litigation are inherently expensive, time consuming, and highly emotional, which can be destructive of familial relationships. Mediation makes it possible for a family to cost-effectively create their own resolutions of some or all of the disputed issues, and thereby protect both estate assets and family relations.

 The mediator has an obligation to remain impartial throughout the mediation process, and cannot render individual legal advice to any party.  Regardless of whether a party is represented by counsel or appears pro se (on their own behalf), each party is encouraged to secure independent legal advice throughout the mediation process, and an independent legal review of any mediated agreements is strongly advised before signing. 

Until 2020, mediations typically occurred in-person, in a location with sufficient physical space for each party and the mediator to have a private room. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic rendered in-person mediations impractical and accelerated the adoption of online mediation across all areas of practice, including estate and probate mediation. Post pandemic, an estimated 70% of persons still prefer online mediation for many reasons, and Legacy Mediation prefers to use Zoom, but we will consider the possibility of in-person mediation under appropriate circumstances.