The benefits of mediation are many: self-determination, efficiency, control, cost,empowerment, and voluntary acceptance of terms are just some of the important ones. The parties truly participate in the process of their divorce, often emerging with intense commitment to and possession of an agreement that they have jointly constructed. The knowledge that they have done it themselves serves as a model for them to remember when confronting any possible future disputes.

Since many mediators take only a month or two to prepare the divorce for court, the parties are working under their own deadline. They can maintain the power and control over their own lives and their own agreement, deciding for themselves what issues are important and how they are best handled. The process can save the couple substantial time and legal fees, depending on their own ability to reach an agreement.

Since the Massachusetts Special Commission on Probate and Family Court Procedures found that "the evidence to date suggests that mediated settlements in marital disputes simply last longer and work better than adjudicated settlements because the parties who helped craft the settlement have a greater stake in making them work," mediation is the alternative to divorce litigation that many couples are seeking.