What is Family Mediation?
Mediation is a process whereby a neutral and impartial third party acts to encourage and facilitate the resolution of a dispute without prescribing what it should be. It is an informal and nonadversarial process with the objective of helping the disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable and voluntary agreement. In mediation, decision making authority rests with the parties.
Family Mediation means mediation family matters, including married and unmarried persons, before and after judgments involving dissolution of marriage; property division; shared or sole parental responsibility; or child support, custody, and visitation envolving emotional and financial considerations not usually present in other circuit civil cases.
Types of Disputes in Family Mediation
Pre-suit divorce cases with pro se spouses or accompanied by attorneys
Filed divorce cases where parties have requested mediation
Filed divorce cases referred by the trial court prior to a temporary relief hearing
Filed divorce cases referred by the trial court prior to a final hearing
Pro se divorse cases
Appellate divorses cases
Post-divorce modifications
Geographic relocation issues
Full financial disclosure
Equitable distribution
Shared and sole parental responsibility
Spousal support
Child support
Dissipation and/or concealment of marital assets
Voluntary underemployment or unemployment
Child abuse and neglect
Domestic Violence
Paternity
Advantages of Mediation
Confidential and private
Economically sound
Efficient
Informal and nonadversarial
Preserves dignity and the relationship
Pro-active dispute management
Disputant control over the outcome (self-determination)
Procedural and substantive flexibility
Open communication channels
Creative option and solution development
Address underlying interests and concerns rather than culpability
Control over establishing undesirable precedent
Control timing and methodology of resolution
Eliminates unlimited exposure and uncertainty of trial
Family Mediation is an emotional and legal process. A family mediator assists spouses, with or without children, in developing more effective conflict management skills. By assisting the disputing parties in altering their perceptions of their conflict circunstances, the Family Mediator provides them the opportunity for personal growth and creativity through the exercise of their self-determination.
Emotional Intelligence during Family Mediation:
How we feel about, and perceive, conflict is derived from our various life experiences such as at home, at work, in school, in religious institutions, ethnicity, gender, inout from television, radio, newspaper, periodicals, and many others. These feelings and perceptions are reflected in what we do when faced conflict.
Emotional Intelligence facilitates the process of exploring:
what the parties can do differently to develop a more positive results
an expansion of the choices available to the parties within the context of their dispute
where the parties have areas and details of agreement, although expressed differently by them
where the parties maintain interdependence and independence
those areas of difference upon which to build discussion
For more information or a consultation call 321-209-4379
