Mediation Support
Whether you are thinking about going to family mediation, midway through the mediation process, worried about financial disclosure in mediation or have reached a mediated agreement, our specialist mediation support family law solicitors, led by partners Louise Halford and Robin Charrot, have the legal expertise to help you.
On your side
Family mediation isn’t an easy option. Reaching an agreement with your former partner, even with the help of a family mediator, can be an uphill battle. As a family mediator can’t offer legal advice it can be hard to understand your family law legal rights, likely court-based outcomes, and know when it is time to compromise and reach an agreement. Having a family lawyer on your side can give you the confidence to reach a mediated agreement.
Sorting the difficult bits
Whether it is looking at your estranged partner’s financial disclosure in between mediation sessions and advising you on what is missing or helping you understand the legal complexities of a pension sharing Order or child relocation Order, the family lawyers at Evolve can support you through the mediation process and help you understand some of the complexities of family law and deal with the tricky bits.
Preparing the paperwork
If you reach an agreement in mediation our family law solicitors can prepare the legal paperwork for you; whether it is starting the divorce proceedings, drafting your child arrangement Order or Financial Court Order. Our family law mediation support package can help you with all of the legal documents, taking the stress out of finalising and implementing your mediated agreement and helping you move on with your life.
Why choose mediation support at Evolve Family Law?
Louise Halford and Robin Charrot founded Evolve Family Law. They are passionate about people being empowered to make their own decisions after separation. Robin and Louise believe people can do so with the right legal advice and mediation support. Their family law team will use their specialist divorce, financial settlement and children law expertise to support you through your mediation journey, using their wealth of experience and expertise to guide and support you to your new beginning.
You may be thinking about going to family mediation or have already started mediation sessions to help you resolve child custody or child contact arrangements after your separation or divorce, or your financial settlement.
A family mediator is trained to help couples resolve family law problems by agreement so a family law judge doesn’t have to be asked to make the decision for the couple. For example, whether the care of their children should be shared or not, the contact arrangements or which person should stay in the family home or whether a pension should be shared between a husband or wife. These are all tricky emotional and legal issues.
Family mediation can be a good option for separating couples who think that they can work together, with the help of a family mediator, to come to an agreement that works for their family.
Mediators are impartial and their focus is to help you reach a compromise. A mediator cannot give legal advice. That is why most people find they benefit from independent expert family law legal advice before they start family mediation and between mediation sessions. At Evolve Family Law we call that mediation support as our role is to help mediation work for you so you can achieve a mediated agreement.
Family Mediation Support
Our family mediation support service can help you with:
- Understanding the mediation process and whether it is right for you. It may not be if there has been a history of domestic violence or you need urgent help, for example, if you fear child abduction or you think your husband or wife may be disposing of assets. In some situations, a court application is your best option. In others, alternative non-court-based resolution options may be more suitable for you (such as arbitration or collaborative law).
- Understanding the law. Whether you are trying to reach an agreement in mediation on child contact or your divorce settlement you need to know what your legal rights are and the likely range of orders a Court would make if you or your husband were to make a Court application. That way you can make informed decisions in family mediation.
- Helping with financial disclosure. If you are trying to reach a divorce settlement in family mediation you and your husband or wife will need to provide financial disclosure. In mediation support, we can collate your financial disclosure for you and review your spouse’s financial disclosure. That way you can be satisfied that your husband or wife has provided full financial disclosure, that you understand what it means, and assets, such as the family business or a pension, have been correctly valued.
- Helping you understand your options. In most families when you have a family law issue there is more than one legal solution. In mediation support, our family law solicitors can help you understand your legal options and your alternatives so you are confident that you are reaching the best decision for you and your family.
- Preparing the legal paperwork. If you are able to reach an agreement in mediation you still need your legal paperwork That could be your divorce petition, child arrangement Order or Financial Court Order. It is crucial that these documents are prepared so you can implement what was agreed in mediation and have the benefit and protection of a Court Order. If Evolve Family Law hasn’t already advised one of you, and you have reached an agreement in mediation, we can act for both of you – as a couple – to convert your mediation agreement into a binding family Court Order. This will be a more cost-effective solution than different lawyers acting for each of you.
