Orangeville: (519) 940 - 8309
Fergus: (519) 772-6139
Fax: (519) 940 - 0526

Family Mediation

Most separations do not have to be settled in a courtroom. Family mediation gives separating couples a way to resolve parenting, support, and property issues directly, with a neutral professional guiding the conversation, rather than leaving the decision to a judge.

Foote Law provides family mediation to separating and divorcing couples in Orangeville and across Ontario, in person and virtually. Foote Law helps couples reach a workable agreement while keeping the process calm, private, and within their control.

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How Foote Law Can Help

Foote Law acts as a mediator, a neutral third party who helps both people reach their own agreement. Foote Law can help separate couples:

  • Work through parenting time and decision-making for the children involved
  • Resolve child support and spousal support
  • Divide property, debts, and the family home
  • Put the outcome into a clear written agreement
  • Keep the process out of court wherever possible

Call Foote Law in Orangeville at 519-940-8309. Foote Law serves clients in Orangeville, Brampton, Shelburne, Alliston, Barrie, Owen Sound, Newmarket, Guelph, and throughout the Greater Toronto Area, in person and virtually.

What Family Mediation Is

Family mediation is a voluntary, confidential process in which a neutral mediator helps both parties reach their own agreement. The mediator does not take sides and does not decide anything; the decisions stay with the two parties.

This is what separates mediation from court. A judge imposes a result, while a mediator helps both people build an agreement they each accept, which tends to hold up better and cost far less than a court fight.

What Mediation Can Resolve &
Open and Closed Mediation

What Mediation Can Resolve

Almost every issue arising from a separation can be mediated and written into a binding agreement:

  • Parenting time and decision-making responsibility
  • Child support
  • Spousal support
  • Division of property and debts

Mediation cannot grant a divorce; only a court, under the Divorce Act, can do that. Mediation settles the issues between the parties, and the divorce itself is filed separately once those issues are resolved.

Open and Closed Mediation

At the outset, separating couples choose which form the mediation takes, and the difference matters.

In closed mediation, everything said and every offer made is confidential and generally cannot be used later in court if the parties do not reach an agreement. Most family mediation is closed because it lets both people speak openly.

In open mediation, the discussions are not confidential and can be raised later in court. Foote Law explains both options before the parties decide which to use.

How a Mediated Agreement
Becomes Binding

Reaching an agreement in mediation is not quite the final step. Here is how it becomes enforceable:

  1. As mediator, Foote Law prepares a written summary of what the parties agreed, often called a Memorandum of Understanding
  2. Each party then takes that summary to their own separate lawyer for independent legal advice, so both understand their rights before committing; this advice comes from each party's own lawyer, not from the mediator
  3. Those lawyers turn the summary into a separation agreement, which becomes legally binding under the Family Law Act once it is signed and witnessed

Independent legal advice is an important safeguard, and it is part of why a properly mediated agreement is harder to set aside later.

Other Ways to Resolve
a Family Dispute

Mediation is one option among several, and the right one depends on the specific circumstances of the separation. Foote Law can help separating couples understand which path fits their situation.

01

Arbitration

A neutral arbitrator, appointed under the Arbitration Act, 1991, hears both sides and makes a binding decision, functioning much like a private judge.

02

Collaborative Family Law

Each person retains a lawyer, and everyone commits in writing to settling the matter without going to court.

03

Mediation-Arbitration

The parties mediate first, and anything left unresolved goes to a binding arbitration decision by the same neutral professional.

04

Negotiation

Discussions take place directly between each party's lawyer, without a formal process.

05

Court

Litigation remains available when none of the other options is suitable.

When Mediation Is Not the Right Path,
the Duty to Try & Early Advice

When Mediation Is Not the Right Path

  • Mediation depends on both people being able to negotiate safely and on a reasonably equal footing
  • Before and during the process, Foote Law screens for family violence and power imbalances
  • Where mediation would not be safe or fair, Foote Law says so and helps the parties consider a more appropriate route
  • This is recognized in family law: no one is required to attempt mediation or any dispute resolution process where family violence makes it inappropriate

The Duty to Try Dispute Resolution

  • Under the Divorce Act, separating parties are expected to try to resolve their issues, to the extent it is appropriate, before turning to litigation
  • That duty does not apply where doing so would be inappropriate, including where family violence is present
  • Mediation is one of the main ways to meet this expectation, and for many families it resolves everything without a court application at all

Why Early Advice Matters

  • Starting mediation early, before positions harden, tends to produce faster and better agreements
  • Understand their rights and options before making decisions
  • Protect any children involved from unnecessary conflict
  • Avoid the cost and delay of a contested court case
  • Reach an agreement they helped shape, rather than one imposed on them

Speak With a Family Mediator
in Orangeville

Separating spouses who want to resolve matters without a court battle may find mediation to be the right path. Reaching out early, before positions harden, gives couples the best chance at a fair and lasting agreement.

Foote Law provides family mediation and dispute resolution in Orangeville and across Ontario, in person and virtually, guiding clients from the first conversation to a signed agreement. Call

519-940-8309 Orangeville 519-772-6139 Fergus
Request a Consultation →
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