How much does mediation cost?
Most mediations involve an hourly or per-session fee except for those that are ordered by a court or conducted through a community-based mediation agency. These agencies may provide mediation at no cost. The amount of time or number of sessions needed to gather information and negotiate an agreement will vary from couple to couple, so the cost of the mediation will also vary. Mediation, however, will always be much less costly than adversarial litigation.
This varies depending on how long the parties take to reach agreement, but the cost is almost always far less than having the same issue resolved by lawyers in court. Depending on the issue and how much work the parties are willing to do on their own, a typical couple could expect to spend between $1,000 and $2,000 to reach a compete agreement in mediation. It would not be unusual for a couple to spend $20,000 or more to fully litigate their issues in court.
Our goal is to provide quality service that people can afford. MFR does provide free mediation services for most eviction-related housing matters thanks to our funding. MFR also provides free mediation for all court-related summary process, civil and criminal matters. For other types of mediation, MFR charges an hourly fee that is shared equally by the parties unless specific arrangements are made. Our aim is to make these fees affordable. Our fees are typically lower than most professional mediators in the Boston area. When fees present a problem for a client, MFR uses a sliding scale based on individual incomes, or an organization’s budget. For details see our Professional Fees page.
