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FAMILY NEWS -

Published: 22nd September 2010 at 15:25:34

 



FAMILY NEWS



 



 



Resolving Family Disputes by negotiation and mediation



 



We have many clients who instruct us in relation to family breakdown which leads to disputes involving contact and or residence of children and resolving financial issues between married couples and partners who are separating.  There are various ways of resolving these difficulties and recently we have had considerable success in enabling our clients to resolve these difficulties by negotiation, frequently with the help of mediation.



 



Mediation is a process whereby, if couples are unable to resolve disputes themselves and need assistance in resolving these issues, then we would refer our client to a mediator.  The mediator is usually a solicitor who practices in family law.  The mediator is impartial, is able to give them information but not to advise them. The mediator's role is essentially to facilitate discussion and help the couple towards reaching an agreement about issues related to financial matters.  Children Act matters involving contact and or residence and perhaps even reviewing the grounds for divorce itself.



 



The process is confidential and if an agreement is reached through mediation then the mediator will prepare a note of the agreement which has been reached and will then send this to the couple.  They in turn will then send this on to their solicitors.  At that point having received advice from their solicitors the agreement can become binding and if there are divorce proceedings the agreement will then be encapsulated in the form of a Consent Order.



 



The majority of our clients avoid expensive Court proceedings because we are able to assist them in negotiating a settlement of the outstanding issues and we are able to refer them to mediation and then draft the appropriate documentation following mediation for submission to the other party's solicitors and the County Court.



 



Our aim is to resolve your difficulties swiftly and with as little cost to you as is possible.