so, have any of you ever participated in a mediation session when you had a legal dispute? and is it binding? can we change our mind real soon, and just run away? gad, we went in, and they just kept harping at us, and before we knew it, we had 'given away the farm". and we even had a lawyer with us, and it seemed like he was just so intent on getting a settlement. and to heck with 'watching our backs". you know.
we have a farm that has been in the family for 4 generations. our 100 acres. the 100 the uncle got in l946 he sold off 10 acres here, and there until a part was land locked. they never maintained anything on his final 37 acres for 60 yrs. and now the new owner wants access across our good land. and we gave it to him like an idiot. and not the easy close corner. and not 'after it was surveyed, so we know what we are talking about, 'just access across dry land' and in michigan, no telling where that will be. ever want to just shoot your self. but the lawyer 'side bared with husband about that, and not until we walked out did it dawn on us after 8 hr. and l short sandwich break and not pee break, that we were fools.

:hunf:

Did you sign papers to make it official?

Oh I am so sorry. Get second opinion right away. Usually you have a three day period after signing papers to back out not including weekends.

Definitely see if you can break this agreement. I know that the 3-day rules applies to a lot of things; maybe it will apply to this also.

A nephew of mine went to mediation over a roof on his new house. His was binding mediation and he lost; he would have been better off if he had not consented to mediation and sued the previous owners instead. As a result of this experience, no one in our family would ever agree to binding real estate mediation again.

Oh, and you have to realize that not all lawyers are competent! I would call another lawyer and ask if you can rescind your agreement. Most lawyers will give you one free phone consultation. Since you won't know who will get back to you first, I would call several lawyers to ask for a callback the same day.

This is my question, too. If they wore you down and used word salad to talk you into this deal, but you haven't signed anything....they can't hold you to it. They'd have to draw up legal documents saying the party could access their land by going through your land.

I guess me, personally....if they've purchased a piece that is landlocked...how else are they going to get to it? Other than buying another piece of land connecting their land, kwim? You don't want them to own MORE of the homestead, right?

Perhaps you could say SPECIFICALLY where they could cross. I dunno if you can specify how often, or what type of vehicles, but if you truly do CARE about what they do to your land on the way to theirs, try and figure out why you care and then make it so everyone's happy. I guess you could also buy back the square from him, too. That would fix it. ;)

You almost always have 72 hours to rescind a legal agreement even if you sign something. Hurry up and call your lawyer, or another if you feel he didn't represent you well.

You should have 72 hours to reconsider. Check that out.

we surely will. started at 10 a.m. Wed. and it lasted until 4 p.m. at 1p.m. i finally said to them. listen, i'm a diabetic, i need to eat, and pee. so, 1/2 hr. break, then back at the table. we got up, about 3 times, and were going to walk out, and somehow, the mediators, said, sit down, wait a minute, etc. papa is 67, i'm 63, and they just wore us down. all weekend, we just agonized, couldn't sleep. upset, you know.? BUT SOMETHING GOOD CAME OF IT. papa and i were in his queen bed all nite, together. touching......

Claim duress......sounds to me like it was under duress. Better do something tomorrow....don't wait.

Come to think of it.....it is against the law in Virginia to landlock a parcel of land. I don't know about the laws in your state but maybe that is why they were trying to get this resolved quickly?

Make them put it in writing exactly where the access to their property will be across your land. OR make them buy the access and deed that portion of your property to them.

Definitely do something tommorrow about it....sorry this happened to you.