Introduction and Advice

I agree the mediation route will be cheaper but that is up to the 2 of you being able to discuss things without tension getting the better of either of you, this didn't work for me as my ex stormed out of the 1st meeting! Anyway it may be better to let things settle down before attempting negotiations. Whatever you do put your children before anything else, it's hard work but gets them through it easier, I think my realationship with my 2 is maybe better now than if we had stayed together.

One of the advantages of mediation is that having a neutral person sitting in the middle can reduce the tension. A decent mediator, by taking control of the joint meetings, should be able to reduce the tension. If that fails, individual meetings might be the answer - until the contentious points had been resolved or the tension abated.

I repeat, mediation doesn't work for everybody - but it does work for a growing number of people. Clearly, Eagle1's spouse was not in the right frame of mind for mediation and may not have done him/her-self any favours by storming out. As a result, he/she/it may have incurred higher legal costs and/or had a settlement imposed by the Court rather than amicably agreed.