When the London Mediation Centre Is a Good Fit

• You have a court file at any of the ten courthouses they serve. Their on-site mediation is free for up to two hours with an active case — often enough to settle a focused issue on a court day.
• Cost is the deciding factor. Subsidized off-site rates make professional mediation accessible at prices a private practice can’t match.
• Your dispute isn’t a separation. Their child-inclusive and intergenerational mediation services address elder-care and multi-generational matters that go beyond divorce mediation.

When Private Mediation Is a Good Fit

• You don’t have a court file — and want to keep it that way. Private mediation resolves everything outside the court system entirely, from first conversation to signed separation agreement.
• Your finances are complex. Southwestern Ontario separations carry distinctive assets: family farms and agri-business from Grey-Bruce to Elgin, where land, quota, equipment, and succession plans all enter the equalization math; Windsor-area households with cross-border employment and
• U.S. income; professional practices and incorporations around London’s hospitals and universities. Valuing these properly — including the tax inside them — is Certified Divorce Financial Analyst territory.
• Two free hours won’t cover it. The Centre’s free on-site window is genuinely useful for focused issues; a full separation with property, pensions, and parenting needs sustained working sessions.
• Scheduling and pace matter. Evening, weekend, and virtual sessions; extended working blocks; a start date set by you rather than a court calendar — practical around planting, harvest, plant shifts, and clinic hours.
• Privacy is a priority. In smaller centres like Goderich or Walkerton, a court file is public in a community where people know each other; a mediated separation is not.

Divorce the Smartway (DTSW) built the Soft Landing Divorce Settlement Method around one idea: separations resolve better when the financial analysis happens inside the mediation, not after it. As both an Accredited Family Mediator and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Ken works through valuation, equalization, support scenarios, and tax consequences at the same table where the decisions get made.

What that looks like in practice:

• Efficiency — most families complete the process in about four working sessions; complex situations take the time they genuinely need, with no arbitrary limits either way.

• Financial depth — business and practice valuations, pension division, stock compensation, and cross-border assets analyzed properly, with outside specialists integrated into sessions when the file calls for it.

• A customized process — joint sessions, shuttle mediation, or a hybrid; parenting first or finances first; your lawyers involved as much or as little as you choose.

• Legally durable agreements — comprehensive Separation Agreements drafted for review by each spouse's independent legal counsel, with Independent Legal Advice encouraged at key points so the final document binds and lasts.

An Alternative for Southwestern Ontario Families: The Soft Landing Method

Divorce the Smartway (DTSW) serves the region through our London meeting location and online divorce mediation everywhere from Windsor to Owen Sound — most families outside London complete the entire process over Zoom. As both an Accredited Family Mediator and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Ken works through valuation, equalization, support scenarios, and tax consequences at the same table where the decisions get made.

What that looks like in practice for this region:

• Efficiency — most families complete the process in about four working sessions; complex situations take the time they genuinely need, with no arbitrary limits either way.
• Financial depth — farm and agri-business valuation with succession and quota in view; cross-border income and U.S.-connected assets for Windsor-area families; professional practices and incorporations analyzed properly, including the contingent tax inside each.
• A customized process — joint sessions, shuttle mediation, or a hybrid; sessions scheduled around harvest, shifts, and two careers; your lawyers involved as much or as little as you choose.
• Legally durable agreements — comprehensive Separation Agreements drafted for review by each spouse’s independent legal counsel, with Independent Legal Advice encouraged at key points.

Ready to explore whether it fits your situation? Schedule a free 15-minute Get Acquainted Call — no obligation, complete confidentiality. If the London Mediation Centre or another path is the better fit for you, we’ll say so.

What Is the Soft Landing Divorce Settlement Method?

A separation agreement is only as good as the numbers underneath it — and in this region the numbers can be genuinely hard: what is the farm actually worth, what does a buyout of the home cost at today’s rates, what happens to a pension or a practice in after-tax reality?

The Soft Landing Divorce Settlement Method works through them in a structured sequence: every asset identified and properly valued, incomes assessed, post-separation budgets built, both futures projected, and complete settlement scenarios compared side by side. When both spouses can see that an agreement works, saying yes stops being frightening.

Most families finish in about four working sessions; the method sets the sequence, not a stopwatch.

Explore the full Soft Landing Method roadmap →

Where to Find a Neutral Professional

Mediators may also be members of one of the following organizations, each of which provides standards of professional conduct and complaints processes:

• Ontario Association for Family Mediation
• Family Mediation Canada
• ADR Institute of Ontario

Other professionals working as neutrals:

• The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts
• Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO)

About Ken Maynard

Ken Maynard, CDFA, Acc.FM is an Accredited Family Mediator and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst serving Ontario families since 2010, including Barrie and Simcoe County through our Barrie meeting location.

The Acc.FM designation is granted by the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM); the CDFA designation certifies specialized training in the financial side of divorce. Ken is the creator of the Soft Landing Settlement Method and host of the Soft Landing Podcast. (Mediate.com badges, linked to profile.)

Mediation is not a substitute for independent legal advice. We recommend each party obtain ILA before signing any separation agreement. DTSW is not affiliated with London Mediation Centre.