Specialist Wiltshire Based Family Lawyer/Mediators
Family Mediation – dealing with the problem
Any family dispute or relationship breakdown can have a huge impact on those involved – whether it’s financial, emotional or even physical. Such a stressful time is often made worse by the considerable delays and expense involved in court proceedings.
However, there are ways to make family law disputes easier and here at Bonallack & Bishop, our family lawyers can help clients throughout Wiltshire with a highly effective way of resolving divorce and family law problems: family mediation
FREE initial phone advice and a FREE 1st 30 minute appointment. Simply Call us on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or Email Our Team Now for Your FREE Specialist Divorce and Family Law Advice
Wiltshire family mediation – our accredited mediator can help
Here at specialist family law firm, Bonallack & Bishop we are strong supporters of family mediation and have a strong commitment to promoting this approach.
Over the last 30 years, we have arranged for a number of our lawyers to qualify as mediators. Our current jointly accredited family lawyer/mediator, Liam Oliver, has years of practical experience as a family lawyer. Our divorce and family law team possesses the experience and expertise needed to help you with your case – and we have helped hundreds of clients resolve their problems with dignity and with much less bitterness than usual.
The Benefits of Mediation
The family mediation approach has been around for a while now – but it is sadly still very much underused in sorting out family law disputes
For anyone going through the process of divorce, the family mediation process has a number of real benefits. In many cases, the benefits are financial. The mediation process can help the parties agree how the finances should be split, but it can also help the divorcing couple avoid the massive legal costs which are associated with taking their divorce to court. However, mediation doesn’t just have financial benefits.
What’s more, in our experience, using the right family mediator also enables couples to sort out their own problems in a much more friendly and less bitter way. Why? Because of their focus on talking through issues and working towards a mutually beneficial outcome.
In short, it is both our experience, and the findings in a recent government report that mediation is both a faster and more cost effective alternatives to ending up in the family court.
Want to know more about “family mediation”? Call us on Salisbury 01722 422300 for a free no obligation chat.
Our Online Family Mediation Service
Here at Bonallack & Bishop, our specialist lawyer/mediator is happy to run mediations face-to-face in the traditional way – but is equally happy using Zoom or Teams video for online mediation from the comfort of your own home.
Click to read more about our family mediation online service.
The importance of family mediation when children are involved
If you have recently split up and are finding it difficult to set aside the hurt and anger to make arrangements for the children, then family mediation can be the ideal way to make arrangements quickly and simply. The mediation process allows parents to decide between themselves how they can best protect the well being of their children following separation.
Don’t forget that children are very often affected much worse by divorce than either partner. Having to settle disputes about how much each partner can see children and who they will live with and when can be very difficult and upsetting for the children involved this.
Children really hate to see their parents disagreeing – and the distress often gets worse the more bitter and vitriolic the parents’ disputes become. However, under the Children Act the best interests of the children must be top priority – and that is surely right.
And that’s where mediation can really help. Children benefit too by knowing that their parents have come to an family agreement together on their care – that’s really important, especially for teenagers and older children.
In short, with the help of a lawyer/mediator, the whole family can put the past behind them and start to move on to a position where everyone is clear about the arrangements going forward and can start to make plans based on the agreement reaches during mediation sessions.
Remember, whilst you may be divorcing your spouse, that spouse will always remain the children’s parent.
Mediation can also help in resolving issues of contact with grandparents who may be struggling to see their grandchildren because of a relationship breakdown.
Does mediation mean I will have to give in?
Definitely not. Firstly you shouldn’t see divorce or any other family law legal problem as a battle to be won. Good solicitors all realise that’s not the case – it is simply a problem to be sorted.
What’s more, most of the time, people don’t want to have to go to court. They really don’t. The courts are there as a last resort when disputes really cannot be solved by talking or compromise and in situations whereby a third-party judgement is necessary. However, the vast majority of disputes can be solved long before they get to court — no matter how much you might feel things are at a complete stalemate.
In addition, if you do take your family law issue to court, it is the judge will have the final say on what happens – whether or not you like that decision. In contrast, one big advantage of using a family mediator however, is that it is you both who decide the outcome, with the verdict being based on compromise and agreement.
The family mediation process
You will initially need to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting in order for a mediator to judge whether or not mediation might be right for you and your family. If it is, mediation sessions will be arranged during which both partners and the mediator will sit down and discuss the situation and try to come to an arrangement for moving forward which suits both partners as well as any family or children which are involved in the situation.
If the matter does end up going to court, the fact that you have attended a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting will go a long way towards helping your case and pleasing the judge.
When will I need legal advice from my own solicitor?
It’s usually a good idea to have legal advice at your disposal throughout the mediation process because you never know when you may wish to clarify certain points with your solicitor.
Before any final legal paperwork which will be legally binding is prepared, it is certainly sensible to seek your own independent legal advice from a specialist family law solicitor.
Does Family Mediation work for everyone?
But do be warned – they don’t work for everyone. Both parties have to start from the position of focusing on solutions not problems and must be prepared to compromise.
Wiltshire Family Mediation – Call for FREE Initial Phone Advice and a FREE 1/2 Hour Appointment
To sum up, and as you have probably already gathered, here at Wiltshire law firm Bonallack and Bishop, we strongly believe that family mediation and collaborative law can make the process of divorce and relationship breakup more manageable for our clients
But you may never have considered using family mediation before – so you may want to find out more about its various advantages.
For more information and to find out whether your family law case is well-suited to one of these approaches, call us or email us today and arrange a FREE first 30 minute appointment;
- Call us now on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 or one of our local numbers for our 2 Wiltshire offices:
Bonallack and Bishop, Bonallack and Bishop
Rougemont House, Queensberry House,
Rougemont Close, 5 Salisbury Street,
Salisbury, Amesbury,
Wiltshire Wiltshire
SP1 1LY SP4 7AW
Tel: Salisbury 01722 422300 Tel: Amesbury 01980 622992
- OR e-mail our team using the contact form below
Our Salisbury Office
