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Whether you have considered filing for divorce, or are in the middle of one now, you have heard of mediation. In a Florida divorce, sooner or later you will go to a mediation, either before you file the case; or during the case because Florida judges refer the case prior to setting a date for trial. The question, then, what is mediation; and what good will it do in your divorce?

Mediation is one of the alternatives to litigation; in other words, an alternative to a trial; and has several important advantages for you. You will use a mediator, who will facilitate communication between you and your spouse. Mediators are not judges; they cannot make you agree, they can simply help you to agree. This is very important in litigated cases, where each party (and sometimes their attorneys) become rigid in holding their positions in a case, and may not consider certain weaknesses of their case because they are so close to the issues.

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Some couples decide they will try to reach a settlement before they file for divorce, and engage in mediation only to find they cannot come to any agreement. Other couples are never able to mediate any issue, and end up with a judgment after months (sometimes a year or two) in litigation. In between, there are those who attempt mediation at one point, reach no agreement at first but do so at a later time short of the trial date.

What is the difference between them? And, if you want to avoid the emotional and financial impact of divorce litigation, how can you tell when you can benefit from mediating your divorce before filing for divorce at your local courthouse?

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Brisbane Family Lawyers & Mediation Services (FLMS)

What is divorce mediation? What is custody mediation?

Divorce Mediation and Custody Mediation are ways to resolve your divorce or custody dispute which lets you keep full control of the outcome. The only people making decisions are those involved in the dispute, unlike arbitration or litigation where a judge or an arbitrator makes the final decision.

Divorce Mediation and custody mediation typically consist of several joint meetings between spouses (or parents, if you are not married) which last 3-4 hours each. During those meetings, you and your spouse discuss the issues which need to be resolved in your case. The mediator is there to facilitate the discussion, assist with communication, provide information and suggestions, and use specialized training to assist the two of you to resolve your differences and write up an agreement which is fair to both of you, and, if you have children, in their best interests as well.

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When two adults divorce each other, there are controversies. One of them is about a physical property ~or more than one~ that promotes a disagreeable situation which may not come to an end without frictions. It is because physical properties cannot be split in half.

What you just read is a simplistic but realistic way of describing what happens every day.

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Vallejo divorce mediation is a civil way to get divorced. Vallejo Divorce Mediation relatively inexpensive, painless and quick. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that it’s free and painless. But you can have it done in a day and it will only cost you a few hundred bucks. Considering the cost of a contested divorce, it’s a good idea (if you and your spouse are still on speaking terms). In Vallejo, divorce mediation and other types of Alternative Dispute Resolution, are growing in popularity. And for good reason I think. Who want’s to give lawyers tens of thousands of dollars?

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Divorce Mediation in South Africa

1          Introduction

A number of recent court cases dealt with the importance of mediation in family law matters. The most recent judgement dealing with the aspect of divorce mediation was the judgement in Brownlee v Brownlee in the South Gauteng High Court, by Acting Judge Brassey that focussed on the duty of parties to a dispute to attempt to mediate the dispute and the obligation of the opposing attorneys to encourage mediation with their clients, before litigation commences. The judgment emphasised the virtues of mediation and also capped the fees of the attorneys on both sides because they had failed to advise their clients to go to mediation at an early stage. Normally an unsuccessful litigant pays the costs of the successful one. Judge Brassey expressed his disapproval of the parties’ conduct and made each party bear their own costs. In Van den Berg v Le Roux, Judge Kgomo ordered the parties to privately mediate all future disputes with regard to their 10-year-old daughter and ordered that only subsequent to the conclusion of the mediation process could either party approach a competent court which has jurisdiction to decide the dispute. In Townsend-Turner and another v Morrow the full bench of the Cape Provincial Division of the High Court made a similar decision when confronted with an access dispute between the father of a 7-year-old boy and the boy’s maternal grandmother. The parties were ordered to attend mediation offered by private mediators of their own choice or those proposed by the office of the family advocate in an effort to resolve the issues of conflict between them including, of course, the issue of access. The court ordered that the mediation had to commence within two weeks of the granting of the order that it should continue for a period of at least three months or for the duration of at least four mediation sessions. The parties were also ordered to share equally the costs of the mediation.

2          Divorce mediation structures in South Africa

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Divorce is an upsetting process. Strong emotions of anger can remain for years. Mind-set of being cast off can even be carried over to new relationships. For many divorcing couples, the most painful part of the proceedings is often the loss of self-esteem. Confronted with hardhearted thoughts of fear and anger, many people in the process of divorcing each other are often distraught by the ease in which they seem to forsake values that they had held in deep regard such as empathy, compassion, and respect. The need to hurt often takes the place of what used to be enduring and deep love. Revenge replaces considerate. Anger supplants civility. When such humanitarian values are given up, it results in the loss of self-esteem and self-respect that is often seen in divorce procedures.

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Divorce mediation, a calm, rational negotiation to iron out the terms of a marriage’s end, is becoming an increasingly popular alternative to acrimonious traditional divorce litigation.

In divorce mediation, a mediator aids in negotiation between a husband and wife by assisting with communication, acting as a buffer when tempers flare and providing information and strategies to help resolve differences. The benefits of this process are lower costs, less angst and an agreement the parties want to adhere to, rather than one they’re forced to adhere to.

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