Most people hear “settlement facilitation” from their attorney or the court and assume it’s something like an optional negotiation session they can skip. In Bernalillo County, that assumption is wrong. Before any trial date will be set in a contested divorce in Albuquerque, the Second Judicial District Court requires parties to complete settlement facilitation under Local Rule LR2-602. It isn’t a suggestion, and it isn’t mediation by another name.
We’re from New Mexico, and our team works with Second Judicial District family court regularly. We’ve seen how much the outcome of a facilitation session depends on how well a client arrives prepared, and how often this step catches people off guard. What follows is a plain-language explanation of what settlement facilitation actually requires, what your attorney files before the session, and what happens when it doesn’t resolve everything.
What Settlement Facilitation Actually Is in New Mexico
Clients and courts sometimes use “mediation” and “settlement facilitation” as if they mean the same thing. They don’t, at least not from a legal governance standpoint. Divorce mediation in New Mexico is governed by the Mediation Procedures Act, NMSA 44-7B-1 through 44-7B-6. Settlement facilitation, by contrast, is governed by each judicial district’s local rules, and Bernalillo County’s LR2-602 is the most detailed of any among New Mexico’s thirteen judicial districts.
The structure of the session is what surprises most clients. The facilitator doesn’t sit both parties down together to hash things out. Instead, each side meets privately with the facilitator in separate rooms while the facilitator shuttles offers and counteroffers between them. This is called shuttle mediation, and it keeps parties from having to negotiate face-to-face while still moving toward resolution. The facilitator is a neutral (typically an experienced family law attorney or a retired judge) and they aren’t advocating for either side.
One practical advantage of a well-chosen facilitator is that they can share how the assigned judge has historically ruled on similar issues. That kind of judicial familiarity can shift an unrealistic position faster than any argument between attorneys, which is part of why facilitation works as well as it does when parties arrive prepared.
Why Bernalillo County Requires It Before Any Trial Date
Under LR2-602, the assigned judge may refer a contested divorce to settlement facilitation at any time, and completing that process is the practical prerequisite for moving a case toward trial. In Albuquerque, facilitation nearly always occurs before a trial date is set. The timeline advantage is real: trial dates in a busy judicial district can take many months to schedule once the facilitation requirement is satisfied, while a private facilitator can often be arranged within a few weeks.
Judges in Albuquerque routinely tell parties at pre-trial hearings the same thing: they’re better served by controlling their own outcome at facilitation than placing every decision in the hands of the court. A judge deciding contested issues has limited time and a defined set of factors to apply. A facilitated agreement can reflect the actual priorities of both people in ways a court ruling often can’t.
What the Pre-Facilitation Information Letter Requires
Before the session takes place, LR2-602(H) requires each party’s attorney to submit a pre-facilitation information letter directly to the facilitator. The rule specifies ten elements the letter must cover:
- Case caption and party descriptions, including income of each party and the names and ages of any children
- Relief sought by each party
- Pending factual and legal issues that remain unresolved
- Discovery status, including what remains outstanding
- Pending dispositive motions before the court
- Cost estimates through trial, so the facilitator understands the financial stakes of not settling
- Last settlement offer made by each side
- Supporting exhibits and case law relevant to disputed issues
That letter is the facilitator’s first and most detailed look at your case. If it’s thin on financial detail, the other side’s framing fills the gap. For clients with business ownership, real estate holdings, or significant retirement assets, an incomplete information letter is a real disadvantage. The facilitator can only evaluate proposals against realistic court outcomes if they understand what the marital estate actually looks like.
Statements made during the session itself are confidential, which means they can’t be introduced as evidence at trial. That confidentiality is intended to encourage candid negotiation. What many clients don’t realize is that offers made before and after facilitation can carry different evidentiary weight under Rule 1-127, which governs how courts treat settlement offers when deciding attorney fees. Your attorney should walk you through that distinction before the session begins.
How to Prepare as a Client
Facilitation rewards preparation more than any other step in the contested divorce timeline. Discovery should be substantially complete before you arrive. A full accounting of community property, debts, business interests, and retirement accounts gives the facilitator something concrete to work with. Walking in without that accounting doesn’t level the playing field. It shifts the session toward whoever has better organized information.
Clients who get the most from a facilitation session arrive knowing their priorities: what matters most to them and what they’re willing to move on. Sessions typically run four to eight hours. A prepared client allows their attorney to advance positions and respond to offers rather than spend that time gathering basic facts. For clients with business ownership, knowing whether a business valuation has been completed and what it shows is often the difference between a workable valuation agreement at facilitation and a contested fight at trial.
The Second Judicial District holds a settlement week during which facilitation is available at no cost to parties. The Self-Help and Dispute Resolution Center is located at 400 Lomas Blvd. NW, Room 134, Albuquerque, NM 87102, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Private facilitation is typically scheduled sooner and allows both parties to select a facilitator whose background matches the issues in the case, which matters when a case involves complex assets or a family-owned business.
When Facilitation Doesn’t Resolve Everything
A facilitation session that doesn’t produce a complete Marital Settlement Agreement isn’t a failure. Partial agreements reached during facilitation are binding, and the case moves to trial only on whatever remains unresolved. Narrowing a contested divorce from eight disputes to two reduces trial time, reduces cost, and gives the judge a more focused set of questions to decide. Even a session that produces no agreement can affect a court’s discretion on attorney fees under Rule 1-127 if one party refused to negotiate in good faith.
For cases involving a closely held business or professional practice, the asset documentation prepared before facilitation shapes what happens next regardless of the session’s outcome. A valuation agreement gets reflected in the Marital Settlement Agreement. Without one, the work done in discovery and the information letter becomes the foundation for a valuation fight at trial. Either way, preparation before facilitation has direct consequences for what the case costs and how it ends.
Settlement facilitation in Bernalillo County rewards clients who arrive organized, realistic, and ready to make decisions. Our team at Batley Riley Family Law works with clients through the full facilitation process, including those who want to get ahead of the mandatory court step through private mediation before the court requires it. If you’re approaching this stage and want to understand your options, call us at (505) 576-7296.