Mediation, a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution, encourages parties to settle their dispute in a manner other than by going to trial. The Maryland Mediation and Conflict Resolution Office (MACRO) defines mediation as "...a process in which the parties work with one or more impartial mediators who, without providing legal advice, assist the parties in reaching their own voluntary agreement for the resolution of all or part of their disputes. A mediator may identify issues and options, assist the parties or their attorneys in exploring the needs underlying their respective positions, and assist the parties in embodying the terms of their agreement in a written document."

Several different forms of dispute resolution may be available in each Maryland jurisdiction. For a list of dispute resolution programs for families in each county or Baltimore City, click here.

Custody/Visitation Mediation assists parents and/or caretakers to reach agreements, define issues or improve communication regarding the care and parenting of children. MACRO finds that "[b]ecause of often deep-seated emotions and the importance of developing future working relationships, there is a broad and growing sentiment that the courts should refrain from issuing custody and visitation orders until reasonable attempts at facilitated consensus-based decision making have been exhausted."

Marital Property Mediation can assist divorcing couples in resolving disputes over the division of marital property. Court battles on this issue can be lengthy, expensive and can result in long-lasting emotional damage to the parties. Mediation provides the parties an opportunity to resolve property issues instead of having a judge make those decisions.

Volunteer Attorney Facilitators also assist parties in resolving disputes and can often add a legal perspective to family law cases. Some courts rely on volunteer attorneys to handle settlement conferences or to help the parties resolve issues on the day of a scheduling conference.

Dependency (CINA) Mediation is a new service that is being developed by some jurisdictions. Mediation can be an effective tool to address parent-child conflicts or to assist adoptive parents, birth parents and agency professionals draft a plan for a child's future, post-adoption.

Scheduling, Settlement or Pretrial Conferences take place at the Circuit Court and are presided over by Judges or Masters. At any of these Conferences a master or judge may attempt to identify contested issues and assist the parties in reaching a settlement. If issues remain unresolved the master or judge and parties discuss how the trial will proceed.