by Rhiannon Ford, Divorce Consultant

As your divorce consultant, I provide specialist support and guidance to people throughout your divorce or separation. My clients come to me at the beginning of their divorce journey, I assess their situation and then facilitate putting the right resources, professionals and processes in place for them, supporting them along the way. I also help my clients with issues they don’t need to use their solicitor for, saving them time and money on legal costs.

Here are 3 ways a divorce consultant can help during the mediation process:

Practical help

Hands on practical help can involve assisting you to prepare your financial information ready for the discussions in the mediation sessions. Feeling prepared on a practical level will help you to feel more prepared on a personal level. Collecting the financial information can take some time and it is important to get everything together before you embark on the mediation process. This helps you save time and money on the mediation process as well putting you in the best position to begin the discussions as soon as possible.  

Coaching support

Personal coaching support can help you to feel ready for the discussions with your spouse about your family finances (and/or children issues). I can help you to work through any challenging emotions which may be making you feel apprehensive about negotiating with your spouse and/or any concerns you may have about difficult emotions coming up unexpectedly during the mediation session itself. The coaching work we do together can assist you to feel as focused, calm and confident as possible, putting you in the best position possible for talking through the important issues in mediation.

As a sounding board

A divorce consultant can help you gather your thoughts about the negotiations as the process progresses and help you decide how you want to present your position in each session. I can also provide ongoing support throughout the process to help you prepare for each session as well as providing the opportunity to have a “de-brief” after each session to discuss the progress which was made in the negotiations. It is helpful to talk to someone who understands the process and can provide specialist support through the whole process. It is good to have a “go to” person to talk through things.

To find out more about how I could help you during your mediation process, get in touch with me via my website – www.rhiannonford.co.uk 

by David Emmerson, accredited mediator and solicitor at Anthony Gold

Family mediation is a voluntary confidential form of alternative dispute resolution.  A mediator is a neutral and impartial third party who helps the parties reach a negotiated solution to family problems such as the arrangements for children, finances, property, pensions and capital. It works because the mediator and the process itself encourages people to have a voice and speak freely.  The mediator will also ensure that you listen, sometimes in a way you have not done before  to what the other person is saying, so that you at least understand what their issues are. You do not necessarily have to agree, but if you did then that would help, but it certainly helps to understand.  

Information is gathered and verified so that each person’s financial position is clear.  Once this has happened, it is the role of the mediator to help  fix an agenda and problems to solve all the issues so that a fair and workable outcome is achieved.  

Mediation has the advantage of being able to deal with issues relating to the children at the same time as dealing with the finances.  In the court process, two separate applications would have to be made and the children and finances are never dealt with together, which is often a considerable disadvantage. Solving issues relating to the children are often connected to finance solutions too.

Potential problems with mediation 

If each person has not fully and frankly disclosed all information and documentation relating to the finances, then the mediation cannot proceed, but the mediator will make every effort to ensure that full disclosure is made as the alternative is invariably the other person issuing court proceedings where the disclosure is ordered by the court.  

Mediation sessions at time can be intense, challenging and even upsetting, not least because these issues are invariably very important to both.  However, the mediator will ensure that the sessions never get out of hand and that time is allowed for each to “recover”.   However, the tension that can be caused in a mediation is nothing compared with the pressure and anxiety that a contested court case can bring with the prospect of giving evidence, being cross-examined and someone else making a decision about your children and your finances.  

Types of mediation 

The most common form of mediation is where both are with one mediator sitting in a comfortable room where the parties are free to discuss matters in a relaxed atmosphere. 

In some cases, co-mediation, where there are two mediators, can be beneficial because that can help in a case where there are complex dynamics.  However, this naturally is more expensive.  

Shuttle mediation can be used where there are particular anxieties by one person with regards to safety or coercive and controlling behaviour.  Here, both are in separate rooms and the mediator works between each room facilitating discussion. 

Role of the mediator and the lawyer 

The mediator can be , and often are, trained family lawyers but mediators cannot give specific tailored legal advice in mediation. They are able to provide key information about what the law is.  It is very important for each party to have the benefit of independent legal advice from someone like a Resolution accredited specialist.  Here, the specialist will listen and understand all of the background to the children and financial issues.  The lawyer will then explain both what the law is, but also importantly how it applies to the individual person’s particular case, so each person is in a strong position to know how to negotiate in the mediation process.  It is also helpful to keep in touch with the lawyer as the mediation process develops.  Whereas family caselaw and statutes can be found easily on the web, the internet cannot tell you how the law applies to your circumstances.

A good experienced lawyer can tell you when you can let go of a point or decision or whether your case is strong enough to stick with something. 

Safeguarding

The mediator would not approve of a case as being suitable for mediation where there are relevant safeguarding and domestic abuse issues. Mediation is voluntary, and you cannot be compelled to attempt mediation. Mediators are trained to deal with an imbalance in bargaining power or indeed bargaining skills.

Costs 

The costs of mediation, even if you use a solicitor to support and assist you throughout, is very significantly less than the costs of a contested court process. The length of the process varies but the number of sessions really depends on how the negotiations develop and also how complex the issues are. It is not uncommon for matters involving children and finances to be resolved in two to four sessions, which might be spread over a two to three-month period. This compares very favourably with a fully contested court process, which can often take 12-18 months. 

Children 

Naturally, both parents will say the children are the most important factor.  In a court of law, the welfare of the children will be both paramount consideration in children cases and the first consideration in a finance case.  However, parents can often have differing views as to what is best for their children and what arrangements should be put in place for the children to spend time with each parent.  In mediation, it is important that the views of each individual child is taken into account. This can be done in a number of ways and one of them is for a mediator, who is specifically trained in children issues, to speak with the children individually on a confidential basis and the children’s views fed back into the main mediation.  In many cases, this is not necessary but in certain cases it can be vitally important, particularly with children of a particular age and viewpoint. This does not mean that the children themselves are making decisions, but simply that their views, uncomplicated by the pressures of speaking with either parent, are known and taken into account.  

In child arrangements, it may well be in difficult and complicated cases that interim arrangements need to be put in place and tested and then reviewed so a mediation process can be staggered, so there is a review after three or four months with a further session. 

Using experts 

Another advantage of mediation is that both can agree to bring in the expertise of a specialist to help resolve issues. This might be instructing a valuer to value a company, business, or properties. It could be bringing in a pensions expert to work out what the best way for both is to reschedule pension investments. It may well be bringing in an independent financial advisor who can help each person in a neutral way of fixing budgets which can be far cheaper than contested court maintenance proceedings.  Other experts can include divorce coaches and therapists where one or both are finding the emotional side of separation particularly challenging.  

Mediation is a very flexible process and the use of such experts, although adding to the costs, can be extremely beneficial.

Outcomes

Both research and statistical information shows that most mediations resolve issues successfully and that the vast majority of participants are happy with the outcomes and the process.

By Louisa Whitney, LKW Family Mediation

Many people going through a separation or divorce get confused about this because for them the word divorce feels like it should encompass all of the issues that they feel need to be sorted out.  However, from a legal point of view the divorce is just the legal ending of the marriage.  Going through a divorce process doesn’t sort out money issues or making arrangements for your children.  It is possible to get divorced and not sort out any issues although this is not something we would recommend!

The divorce process is essentially a paperwork exercise with forms being submitted to court.  From a strictly legal perspective it is usually very straight forward as long as paperwork is completed properly.  On an emotional level there can be a huge myriad of emotions going on and getting the final certificate (called a Decree Absolute) saying you’re finally divorced can bring up sadness, grief or joy (or all three at the same time or more emotions).

The process starts with one person completing a form to petition (i.e ask for) a divorce.  The only grounds for divorce is that your marriage has permanently broken down.  But currently you have to base the petition on a particular fact.  These are:

• Adultery – this is defined as sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
• Unreasonable behaviour – a subjective test of behaviour that is unreasonable to you and not anyone else.  So you can say that the other person was unhelpful around the house, never expressed affection and didn’t buy you a birthday present.  It doesn’t have to be huge things.
• Desertion (this is rarely used)
• You’ve been separated for 2 years and the Respondent (the person not petitioning for divorce) agrees that the divorce can go ahead.
• You’ve been separated for 5 years (and the other person doesn’t have to agree to the petition)

Currently the law says that if you haven’t been separated for 2 years then the divorce has to be based on either adultery or unreasonable behaviour which means that you have to say the divorce is the other person’s fault – either because they have committed adultery or because they behaved unreasonably.

This leaves lots of separating couples in an unpleasant situation.  If you separated a year ago and your spouse is now in a relationship with someone else then technically you can petition for divorce based on their adultery.  But neither of you may feel that that’s the reason your marriage ended, because the relationship began after that.  In addition to this you may feel you grew apart so having to make allegations of adultery or unreasonable behaviour against the other person can feel uncomfortable and can sometimes inflame an already tense situation.

There are moves to change the law so that you don’t have to allege fault but we are not there yet unfortunately for anyone going through a separation right now.

Once the person petitioning for divorce sends their divorce petition to the court and pays the court fee (this can be done online now) then the petition is sent to the other person and they have to say if they agree with the grounds for divorce.  Essentially this means

• They accept they have committed adultery
• They accept the allegations of unreasonable behaviour
• If you have been separated for more than 2 years but less than 5 then they agree to the divorce taking place

If the other person doesn’t do this then you may be able to proceed if you can show the court that the person has received the petition but isn’t replying.  This will not be the case where your divorce is based on you being separated for 2 years and the other person agreeing as they have to explicitly give their consent.

Once this has been done the person petitioning for divorce then asks the court to pronounce the Decree Nisi.  This is the middle stage of the divorce (although it’s really the second to last stage).  When you see newspaper headlines about a celebrity getting a divorce in 5 minutes they really just mean the Decree Nisi has been pronounced.  If you listen carefully you can hear family mediators and lawyers shouting!  You don’t have to attend court to hear the judge reading out the details.  You then have to wait for 6 weeks to pass from the day after the Decree Nisi until you can apply for the Decree Absolutely which is the final stage.  Usually a lawyer will advise you not to do this until you have sorted out money.

If you’d like more guidance on the divorce process then you can download the divorce process webinar explaining this in detail from our online shop.

Other blogs you may find useful:

The grief of divorce

Communication Problems: Being at different stages in the recovery process

by Louisa Whitney

When I talk about keeping children out of conflict I mean managing to do this most of the time; because no one gets things right all the time and to make mistakes is to be human. When you’re emotional and scared and angry it can be even harder to always try to react from a higher place rather than a base instinct to protect yourself. Part of making your separation as good as it can be is focusing on how you would like things to be even if you don’t always make it to the place you want to be at. But drawing a line under anything that didn’t go as well as it could, and refocusing on what you want things to be like, can make the separation as constructive as it can be for your children.

Any parent going through a separation will likely say that their priority is to have happy children. Children are likely to be happiest when the following things are true:

1. They understand what is happening and if things aren’t yet clear they know they will be told when they are. Explanations can be given in an age appropriate way but it is unsettling for children to know things are changing but not to know what those changes will be.  They know they will be affected by them because they already know they’re being affected on some level.

2. They know both of their parents love them unconditionally.

3. They know that each parent is happy for them to have a relationship with the other parent and they feel a respectful relationship is in place between their parents even though they aren’t going to be living together any more.

4. They know absolutely that the separation is not their fault, and is not a result of them not being kinder to their siblings, having tided their bedroom more or generally made better choices.

If your children know all that, with every fibre of their being, then they are far more likely to be able to adjust to the change in their family life and to not be affected by things on a long term basis. It is being exposed to conflict and feeling that they are caught between their parents that is usually the cause of behavioural, emotional or even physical health problems for children following a separation.

It is also important that if things aren’t going as well as you’d hoped that you get the right support. Managing all of this on your own is hard and you are not an expert. Getting the right help from a professional  - such as a family mediator, your child’s school or your GP can be a really huge step in turning things around when they’re not going as well as you’d hoped. Remember the objective is to get things mostly right overall not to have things right all the time.

A family mediator can talk you through the arrangements you want to make, step by step.  They create a safe and constructive space where you can talk to each other and share your objectives, worries and ideas on what happens next.  They help keep your discussions on track and can write down what you want to put in place going forward for your children.