Portland Divorce Mediation Process

Once you complete your consultation and agree to proceed with Matthew House as your divorce mediator, you will complete some intake information and participate in two to four mediation sessions.

The number of sessions varies based on the complexity of the case and whether you have minor children.

Discovery is the process of exchanging information in a mediated divorce. It ensures that both parties and the mediator can discuss the issues with a clear and accurate understanding.

Discovery

Mediation Sessions

Once you complete your consultation and agree to proceed with Matthew House as your divorce mediator, you will complete some intake information and participate in two to four mediation sessions. The number of sessions is based on the complexity of the case and whether you have minor children.

After you have completed mediation and have resolved all outstanding issues in your Portland divorce matter, you will be ready for the written components of the divorce process. Matthew will write a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA), which some call a divorce agreement or a mediated agreement. It will include all of the decisions you have made in mediation.

Anything that you want to stipulate in your MSA can be included, as long as it is consistent with the law and can be expressed in definitive terms.

After the MSA is drafted, you will have a final, one-hour session with Matthew to review the MSA and the Supplemental Agreement and indicate any revisions that may be necessary.

Marital Settlement Agreement

Supplemental Agreement

Matthew House is the only Portland-area divorce mediator who provides you with a second, full-length written agreement at no additional cost.

Because mediation notes are not released to clients because they are confidential by statute, the Supplemental Agreement is a middle ground between having Matthew's session notes and having a written record of only the stipulations you actually included in your MSA.

The Supplemental Agreement will also allow you to include details that might be too minute or personal for a judge to need to read. A divorce is a public record. There may be details you want to agree to between yourselves but not make available for others to see.

After the MSA is revised and ready to become a binding agreement, Matthew will refer you to a paralegal to whom he regularly refers clients. The paralegal will ask you to complete a brief questionnaire, and you will sign a Limited Scope Representation Agreement. The paralegal and her supervising attorney, as a team, will complete, review, and file your divorce documents electronically with the Circuit Court of the county in which at least one of you resides.

Once the divorce paperwork has been submitted to the Circuit Court, your case will be assigned randomly to a judge. The judge will review your divorce paperwork and sign the judgment. You will not have to appear in court. Once the documents are signed by the judge and recorded by the clerk, you will be officially divorced.

The paralegal and the attorney will monitor your case through the court process and will notify you when it has been finalized. You will then receive an electronic copy of the signed divorce judgment and can order a paper copy from the courthouse if you wish.