In The Times on Monday 25th January, an interview with an experienced divorce lawyer gives some indication of the increasing belief among professionals in the field that Court is not an appropriate place for separated couples to deal with their issues, particularly where there are children involved.
We are not surprised that many people are confused about the availability of Legal Aid for family mediation. In recent times, Legal Aid cuts have made the headlines and Legal Aid for instructing a solicitor and taking family cases to court has been virtually stopped.
The message we want to get across loud and clear is - Legal Aid is still available for family mediation.
Here are our top three Legal Aid tips:
1. Find the right service
A recent article in The Guardian quoted a Tiger Woods interview in Time magazine, where he said that his children knew ‘they have two loving parents that love you no matter what.’ Unfortunately, many children do not hear that message, or see it in action, particularly during divorce or relationship breakdown.
Lee 26, and Heather 25, first contacted MyMediation in June 2015 for help to make arrangements in respect of their twins Tyler and Morgen, aged 5. Lee had heard about family mediation from a storyline in a soap opera but was not convinced of it working for their situation.
Does mediation achieve more satisfactory, longer lasting outcomes than other dispute resolution processes? Research points to the fact that 2/3 of cases that start mediation reach agreement. How do you measure positive outcomes?
We recently saw a dad for a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) whose main priority was making arrangements to see his four year old son as quickly as possible. This dad hasn’t seen his child for three weeks. He attended the MIAM to get the C100 form completed so that he could make an application to the court. He wanted to know how long it would be before the court made a decision.
Yesterday, there was a change of tone on our Facebook and Twitter feeds as people celebrated the festival of Thanksgiving. Once an American festival, but now celebrated across the world, the fourth Thursday of every November provides an opportunity to share what you’re thankful for with family and friends.
This week is Resolution’s Family Dispute Resolution Week; a week highlighting the alternatives to court for separating couples. Separated parents are being encouraged to recognise that at times of family difficulty it is easy for adults to forget what it is like to be a child. Here are our top 10 tips for separated parents to put your children first:
It’s less than 5 weeks until Christmas but there is still time to consider family mediation if you are anxious about arrangements for the holiday season.
Resolution, has this week released the results of a poll of young people aged 14-22 with experience of parental separation. The organisation, with 6,500 members who are family mediators, lawyers and other professionals committed to the constructive resolution of family disputes, hopes the insights will help parents understand the impact of divorce and separation from a child’s perspective.
