Q: How long do you have to file a signed mediation agreement
If family court ordered mediation and the mediator only filed the form stating mediation was complete and the co-petitioner will be responsible for filing the signed agreement, is there a certain time frame that agreement needs to be filed in before the courts will no longer accept the request to review and approve
A:
There is not a specific time frame after which the court will not accept the signed mediation agreement and approve it. That is a matter of the judge's own discretion. Different judges choose to handle that situation differently. The judge is aware that this is unresolved on their docket. Generally, at some point, the judge is going to issue some sort of order to prompt the parties to get their agreement signed or schedule the matter for a hearing if the agreement has already fallen apart. The timing of the judge's action depends on the judge, but could be anywhere from a couple of weeks after it was expected to 6-8 weeks after it was expected. Many judges do something around 30 days after it was expected.
The other party also has the option to take some action. That can include drafting the agreement and asking the other side to sign it so it can be filed. It can include filing a status report to the court indicating where things stand, or a motion asking the court to order it to be completed within a certain time. The other party could ask the court for a status conference to address the situation. The other party could even ask the court to set it for a hearing if it seems like the other party has decided not to go with the agreement reached in mediation after all.
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