A lot of people don’t even know about family mediation services. They assume that divorces are only settled by attorneys and divorce court proceedings. However, family mediation is another option available to them. People typically learn about family mediation from their attorneys. If they don’t seek the assistance of an attorney, then they’ll likely learn about mediators by searching the internet for answers on how to proceed with a divorce.
Below are the top 5 questions that most people have about family mediation.
1- What is the job of a family mediator?
Family mediators work to counsel couples whenever they have disagreements in their relationship. These disagreements are often the result of pending divorce or separation where both sides cannot agree on how to split their possessions, assets, and child custody arrangements. Family mediators help couples make better decisions regarding these issues. You can choose whether you want to take the mediator’s advice or not.
Family mediators are not only reserved for couples who are splitting up. There may be couples who still want to stay together, but they require a mediator to help them resolve disagreements that make things uncomfortable for them in their relationship. These could be simpler family matters like sharing responsibilities with the household chores or babysitting the children at certain times of the day.
Since smaller disagreements can escalate into bigger problems in the relationship, a mediator may be able to save your relationship if you can resolve your smaller disagreements fast enough.
2- What is the difference between a mediator and an attorney?
For one thing, mediators are not lawyers and have no professional legal credentials. Nonetheless, mediators are professional people in their unique fields. They are certified and trained to resolve areas where couples disagree with each other. These are areas that may include child custody arrangements, daycare, budgeting, provision division, or all types of family matters. Mediators are not the same as couples therapists either. They are simply professionals who validate the interests of both sides and determine the fairest way to settle their disagreements.
An attorney is a legal professional who uses the power of litigation to help their client in a divorce or civil partnership spilt. Each partner would have to get their own attorney because the same attorney obviously cannot counsel both partners. One of your attorneys will be the one to file for divorce. They’ll send the divorce papers to the other partner or their attorney.
If the terms of the divorce are found to be unfair, then one attorney will try to make a counter-argument for a fairer resolution. There is no mediation between the attorneys. They basically try to negotiate with each other on behalf of their clients. This may result in a decent resolution, but it won’t do anything to reduce the animosity between the former partners. Mediators are better for doing that.
3- What if my partner does not want to commit to attending family mediation sessions?
When a mediator tries to work with both partners at the same time, it may invoke one partner to criticize the other partner and escalate tensions during the mediation session. This makes it more difficult to resolve disagreements in a timely manner.
Therefore, the mediator might suggest seeing each partner separately in individual sessions. Then each partner can feel more comfortable talking about their disagreements and coming up with viable solutions. If solutions can be agreed upon by both partners in separate sessions, then they can come together in the end without any disagreements left. You can also read websites for more information.
4- What happens if an agreement on all the issues cannot be established?
Mediators do their best to resolve all the issues facing a relationship or split up. However, there are circumstances where some issues may be resolved, and others won’t be resolved.
In this case, a Partial Agreement will be created that outlines the issues which have agreement from both sides. It is up to you as to how you want to proceed in resolving the rest of the issues that still have a disagreement.
5- Do I need family mediation if I already have an attorney?
Yes, you can do that. Have your attorney around to give you advice on legal matters, but leave the negotiating to the family mediator. This will save you money because you won’t require as many services from the attorney.
