The question is, “Can you force a mediation if you’re a party to a trust or will lawsuit?” The answer is probably not. You certainly can go to mediation by agreement of the parties. But if you want to go to mediation and the other side does not, you cannot force them.
Keep in mind, in many cases, judges will order the parties to go to mediation, at some point in the litigation process, typically when the written discovery is close to being done. That may happen down the road no matter what happens. But we’ve seen cases where one party wants to mediate and the other party doesn’t, and the judge does not order the parties into mediation. In those situations, we end up going to trial.
Can you force somebody into mediation? Chances are, no, but there’s a higher percentage chance that you will end up in mediation by a court order down the road.
