A divorce in Snohomish County follows rules specific to this courthouse, and most of what’s online describes some other county or no county at all. This post is part of a series answering the questions our clients ask about how the process actually works here.
Yes. Snohomish County requires every contested issue in a divorce to go through mediation or a judicial settlement conference before trial. The deadline is eight months from filing or before you confirm your trial date, whichever comes first. The compliance hearing the court used to hold to police this was rescinded on March 30, 2026. You now prove compliance by filing a notice signed by the mediator.
What the rule requires
The requirement is in SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3). All contested issues in divorces, parentage cases, committed intimate relationship cases, and most petitions to modify final orders must be submitted to ADR, meaning mediation, or to a judicial settlement conference. The one carve-out is a modification of child support or maintenance alone, which goes to mandatory arbitration instead. If a guardian ad litem has been appointed, the GAL gets at least ten days’ notice of the mediation date.
Both parties pay an equal share of the mediator’s fee unless the court orders a different split or the parties agree to one. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(E). A motion to change the allocation goes on the commissioner’s Domestic Motions calendar.
When mediation isn’t required
The rule lists four exceptions. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(B). Mediation is not required where a domestic violence restraining order or protection order, other than an ex parte order, has been entered between the parties within the past 12 months. The same is true where a criminal no-contact order exists under RCW 10.99, or where the court finds on motion that domestic abuse occurred between the parties and would interfere with arm’s-length mediation. The court can also waive it for good cause.
Even in an exempt case, either party can ask the court to order mediation anyway if they believe the parties could resolve the dispute fairly through it. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(F).
The deadline
Mediation must be completed no later than eight months from filing or before trial is confirmed, whichever comes first. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(C). The Compliance Schedule you receive at filing will show the date. That schedule can’t be changed by agreement of the parties. Only the court can move it. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(F).
You can file your Note for Trial Setting before mediation is done, as long as you’re confident mediation will be finished by the trial confirmation deadline. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(5). Many attorneys do exactly that, because a trial date on the calendar tends to make mediation more productive.
What changed in March 2026
For years, SCLSPR 94.04(c)(4) provided for an ADR compliance hearing. The court set a date, and if the parties hadn’t mediated by then, they had to appear and explain why. That subsection was rescinded by emergent rule effective March 30, 2026, and the rescission was made permanent in the local rules effective September 1, 2026.
Compliance now works through paperwork. You satisfy the rule in one of three ways: both parties attend mediation and file a Notice of ADR/Mediation Compliance signed by the mediator; the court enters an order waiving mediation; or you document an exemption on a filed Notice of ADR/Mediation Compliance. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(C). When you confirm your trial, you have to provide proof of compliance. SCLCR 40(d)(3).
The consequences of not complying didn’t go away. A party who hasn’t completed mediation may be prohibited from confirming a trial date, the case may be set for a status hearing, and refusal or delay can be treated as contempt with monetary terms. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(D). Motions to waive or compel mediation must be noted at least 60 days before any scheduled trial. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(F).
If a website or an older guide describes the ADR compliance hearing as a step in your case, it’s describing a procedure that no longer exists.
What mediation looks like in a Snohomish County divorce
Most family law mediation here is private. The parties choose a mediator, usually an experienced family law attorney or retired judicial officer, and split the fee. The Dispute Resolution Center of Snohomish County is a lower-cost option the court lists on its family law resource sheet. A judicial settlement conference, where a judge or commissioner presides, is the other route the rule allows.
Mediation can be in person or by Zoom, and the choice is made case by case with the mediator. A typical divorce mediation runs a half day or a full day. The parties usually sit in separate rooms and the mediator moves between them. Nothing said in mediation can be used in court; mediation communications are privileged under Washington’s Uniform Mediation Act, chapter 7.07 RCW, with narrow exceptions. Nobody can force you to settle. The requirement is to attend in good faith, not to agree.
If you settle
When the case settles at mediation, the agreement is written up and signed before anyone leaves. A signed written settlement is enforceable under CR 2A. In re Marriage of Ferree, 71 Wn. App. 35 (1993). The Snohomish County rule then requires a Notice of Settlement of All Issues within seven days, and final documents within 60 days after that, or the court can order the parties to appear and explain the delay. SCLSPR 94.04(i). If the settlement is partial, the remaining issues go to trial and everything else is entered by agreement.
Two things you can do to make mediation work
Arrive with one spreadsheet. Every asset and debt, with a value and a source document for each. Mediations that stall usually stall over numbers nobody can verify in the room.
Decide your priorities before, not during. Know what you need, what you’d like, and what you can give up. The parties who settle well are the ones who did that thinking in advance with their attorney.
Common questions
Is anything I say in mediation confidential? Yes. Mediation communications are privileged under Washington’s Uniform Mediation Act, chapter 7.07 RCW, with narrow exceptions. Nothing said in mediation can be used against you in court.
Do we have to mediate if there’s been domestic violence? Not necessarily. Mediation isn’t required where a domestic violence protection or restraining order was entered in the last 12 months, where a criminal no-contact order exists, or where the court finds abuse would interfere with arm’s-length mediation. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(B).
Who pays for the mediator? The parties split the cost equally unless the court orders otherwise or they agree to a different split. SCLSPR 94.04(c)(3)(E).
This post is part of our series on how a divorce works in Snohomish County. Start with the main guide, How a Divorce Actually Works in Snohomish County, or read about how long a divorce takes here and why the local rules matter.
This post describes Snohomish County procedure as of September 2026, including the local rules effective September 1, 2026. Local rules change on their own schedule; check the court’s current rules before relying on a deadline.
Last updated September 2026.
Law Offices of Daniel Ehrlich, Everett. Family law in Snohomish, Island, King, and Skagit Counties. (425) 954-5578.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. If you’re facing a divorce in Snohomish County, talk to an attorney.
