The Family Law Protocol requires all solicitors advising clients about family law to go through their complete list of options with them – even if they don’t offer some of the options as a firm. All clients seeking advice about a family law dispute should therefore have at least a basic understanding of mediation. But often that is all it is. You may have been told that mediation is an option, and you may have gathered that it involves talking…
How do new family laws affect you? From today various changes in family law are coming in to force. There has already been a great deal of change in recent times in family law with the removal of legal aid for most family matters – although it is important to note that legal aid is still widely available for mediation to resolve family matters. The main three changes are: 1. From today the Statement of Arrangements for Children form…
Is it really all over? For some people there can be a definite understanding that their marriage is over. They may discover something and feel they can no longer trust their spouse, or they may simply know it is time to turn a new page. For others it is not so clear cut. There may be arguments. There may be a breakdown in communication. There may be a lack of mutual understanding. But is that enough to mean it’s the…
Make mediation work for you How often have you heard the phrase “my head says this but my heart says that”. Or people talking about whether they make decisions with their head or their heart. They usually mean that they are either an emotion or instinct led decision maker, or more about the facts and the analysis. Sometimes people are a bit of both, or sometimes they make decisions differently depending on what the decision is about e.g making decisions…
Why family mediation? People often ask us why they should try mediation. So we have compiled our top ten reasons why any separating couple should give mediation a go: 1. You talk to each other directly, usually in the same room. This lessens the potential for misunderstandings and cross communication. Where solicitors are involved and are writing letters on your behalf there is always the potential for a letter to be misconstrued or read differently to how it was written…
At LKW Family mediation we are focused on family mediation but we do have a contact who can undertake civil mediation work. Please contact us if you require more information.
Is family mediation legally binding? The idea of mediation is to give each separating couple the tools and the process to discuss ideas about the arrangements they will put in place following their separation. Generally those arrangements will concern any children, where each party will live and how they will separate their money (but it isn’t limited to that and you can discuss any relevant issue in mediation). Each party needs to feel free to make suggestions and to openly…
Are lawyers present in mediation? No, in the sense that there’s no requirement for you to have a lawyer acting for you. But you might want to think about taking some advice from a lawyer because it is often helpful to the discussions if each person has a reasonable expectation of what can be achieved. The mediator can provide a wealth of useful information to assist you, because they are a qualified family lawyer, but they cannot advise either of…
Can mediation work for us? The short answer to this is yes. There are very few reasons why mediation could not work if both parties are willing to enter into the process. Before mediation begins we meet with each person separately to explain the process and answer any questions that they may have. This is important because you are more likely to get on board with a process if you understand it and can see how it works. We only…
Mediation aims to get you towards a mutual resolution We put this in our FAQs because people always feel bad about asking what they think are silly questions. But actually it’s a good starting point. We hope you’ve watched the video on our home page as that gives a good introduction. Mediation is where a separating couple directly discuss the things they think they need to sort out. Usually they sit in the same room and the mediator facilitates their…
