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Mediator’s Proposal

Tuesday, September 22, 2026 9:27 AM | Anonymous

Divorce Mediation | Basics, Pros & Cons and Process Explained

When the parties have reached an impasse in mediation, should a mediator ever make a formal settlement proposal to both sides—particularly when the mediator believes the parties are closer to settlement than they realize?

Does making such a proposal enhance the mediator’s effectiveness, or does it risk moving the mediator from a facilitative role into an evaluative or quasi-adjudicative role?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

What are your thoughts?

Comments

  • Monday, October 12, 2026 2:24 PM | Terri Lastovka
    When parties get stuck, I often will say something like "This may not be a great idea, but what about ....?" I intentionally make it a bad ides. The response is typically "yeah, that is a bad idea". But that gets the parties assessing ideas. I will follow up with, "Ok, then how can we tweak this to make it a better idea?" It helps get them unstuck. And, making it a bad idea avoids appearing evaluative aor quasi-adjudicative. This concept was a take-away from a collaborative divorce training. It really does work well.
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