All Hamilton County divorces involving custody disputes must be mediated, but costs of court-appointed mandatory mediation will vary according the ability of the parties to pay.  Below is the sliding scale used to set the hourly fee for mediation.  Notice that if the parties agree to a mediator, there is no limit on the mediator's fee -- the fee is left entirely to what you and the mediator agree to.  This also means that if you and your spouse agree to mediation by someone willing to do it for less, or a friend or relative willing to do it for free, you can do so.  Note that for the chart, "family size" refers to the number of the combination of the parents and children -- in other words a family size of "3" is one child (and two parents), and does not mean there are three children.  (All five of the other counties in the Parenting Planning pilot project will require mandatory mediation.)

^{(1) The Sliding Scale Fee applies. Any deficit in the mediator fee is paid from the fund established by T.C.A. §36-6-414 (b)(2).
(2) The parties establish the fee by contract. The fund established by T.C.A. §36-6-414 (b)(2) does not apply.}

(1) This Sliding Scale only applies to court-designated mediators based on the ability of the parties to pay pursuant to this scale. [T.C.A. §36-6-414 (b)(1).] The total gross income of both Father and Mother is considered for purposes of applying this scale. The determination of the sliding scale fee required shall be made by the Parenting Coordinator. Indigency for in forma pauperis status of the action is determined independently by the courts. It is not necessary for an action to be filed in forma pauperis in order to qualify for fees based on this scale.

(2) Total gross income of both Father and Mother.

(3) This is a per-hour fee. There is a presumption that all mediation fees will be paid one-half by the Father and one-half by the Mother. Attorneys acting as surety for their clients please note that pursuant to T.C.A. §36-6-414(a) these fees shall be assessed as part of the costs of the action. For purposes of the COURT allocating the fees as costs, the fees will be prorated based on the gross incomes of each party. In those cases where the mediation fee collected from the parties is less than the fee of the mediator (not to exceed $100 per hour), the balance shall be paid to the mediator from the fund established by T.C.A. §36-6-414(b)(2).

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