When children are involved, it is natural for parents to be the most concerned with how their children are going to adjust to the separation. Mediation ensures that both parties have an opportunity to be heard. The mediators will facilitate a child focused process whereby multiple options can be identified and tailored to the unique needs of your family.
Mediation empowers family members working towards ending their disagreement, allowing them to maintain control and ownership of the entire process. It emphasizes the importance of cooperation and fairness, especially when it comes to the wellbeing of children and dependents.
Recently the term “child custody and access”, used in Family Law, has been changed to Parenting time and decision making. This change reflects the need for parents to focus on raising their children in separate households as a united front. Decision making still refers to major medical, education, religion, and extracurricular activities. Mediation is designed to aid in co-developing a Parenting plan that will be written to avoid conflicts in the future. The focus is being shifted to the parents being responsible to parent the children.
Many parents have found navigating the mine field of family law often to be confusing. Financial support are issues that may take a professional who can help each party understand the nuances that would affect their new financial situation. In a recent court case A.S.L. v. L.S.L. it was deemed appropriate for both parties to reveal a detailed cash flow to support claims of child support. By hiring a Chartered Financial Divorce Specialist, parents will have a 3rd party neutral identify the scenarios available. This is much more cost efficient than each using a lawyer who have their respective client’s best interest.
Mediation will help both parents to co-create an agreement that will have a better chance of being followed. This produces an environment where the focus is fostering growth for the children in two homes.