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Mediation in Family Law

For our first blog post, I’d like to talk briefly about Family Law mediation

Mediation has become quite important in Family Law over the last few years because of compulsory mediation for most Family Law Children’s matters. For a lot of people, this can be a real help too. No matter how you look at it, when you have children with someone, they’re probably going to be involved in your life for the next 15-20 years, even if you don’t want to be in a relationship with them anymore. More importantly, it is more than probable that they’re going to play a significant part in your children’s lives. If you can work out your differences in a way that reduces the conflict between you, it will usually end up in an outcome which is better for all involved. The Family Court process is not a pleasant one, and if you can avoid putting your children through the pain and heartbreak of watching their parents fight it out in court, it is often better for them, as well as better for you.

Custody and child support mediation can be a vital step towards a positive outcome. Mediation can also be very useful in Family Law and Property Law disputes. In a file that I recently ran, we were able to resolve all the parties’ differences at a private mediation session. This saved a lot of time and money for both of the parties because it gave them the opportunity to actually sit down and talk about a solution to their situation before heading off to court. This meant that they didn’t incur the costs of drawing up court documents or putting their cases to a judge. Instead they got the direct assistance of their lawyer and an experienced Family Law Barrister as the mediator in working out a solution.

Mediation can help convey your message clearly

I have also found that private mediation can get you a quicker result at a lower cost than letter exchanges between lawyers. Too often, so much gets lost in translation with letters and it is too easy for this type of negotiation to drag out a dispute rather than bring it to an end. A mediation session lets you have all the discussions that you would otherwise have in those letters in the course of a couple of hours, rather than weeks or months; which often means reduced costs for you and less frustration at the process.

Importantly, whatever the problem you are facing, Mediation gives you the opportunity to have a real say in what happens in your proceeding. Rather than having to sit in the back of the court and watch your lawyer talk to the judge on your behalf; you, your lawyer and the mediator all get to sit down and talk about solutions together. That perhaps that is the best thing about using a mediation process; your voice is heard by everyone involved, including your former partner.

To talk to one of our experienced family lawyers in Melbourne, please don’t hesitate to give our team a call today on 1300 1 LEGAL.  We are real people, with real solutions.

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