Family mediation week – 22 January 2024
Monday 22 January 2024 starts the beginning of Family Mediation Week. So, what is family mediation week? The Family Mediation Council uses this week each year to raise awareness of family mediation and of the benefits it can bring to separating families.
During the week there will be information published on the Family Mediation Council’s website - Family Mediation Week 2024 - Family Mediation Council and there will be lots of events for the public and professionals who are involved with families. For a full timetable of events see here Family-Mediation-Week-Webinar-Timetable-2024.pdf (familymediationcouncil.org.uk)
Our family team have long advocated the benefits of mediation for family, and other disputes. It can be a great opportunity for couples separating to make key decisions about child arrangements, how to deal with their finances and the family’s living arrangements. Mediation can be a cost effective method of dealing with these matters as opposed to trying to do it through litigation.
Mediation will involve the instruction of a third party mediator, who talk to each party and ascertain whether there may be room for compromise and settlement. The mediator will be impartial and provide the parties with options and suggestions how the Court might otherwise determine their dispute. The main benefits of mediation are to enable each party to be heard, and the parties to negotiate a settlement which is suited to their own individual needs. The parties are encouraged to seek independent legal advice during the mediation process and in implementing any agreement reached. Advice provided in conjunction with mediation is considerable more cost effective and quicker than other more contested methods.
ADR methods such as mediation can help preserve relationships between the opposing parties through their more conciliatory approach focused on reaching mutually agreeable compromise. During Court proceedings, such relationships can sour further as increasingly aggressive action is taken. Although not necessarily a benefit for clients, increased use of ADR serves to ease the burden on the Court system and promotes more efficient usage of national judicial resources. Whatever that can be done to allow the Court to reduce its workload should be utilised in the interests of the long term.
If you have any questions on mediation or any other form of Alternative Dispute Resolution, please do contact Emma Rothstein (erothstein@pearsonhards.co.uk) or Elena Mitejko (emitejko@pearsonhards.co.uk) in our Family team. Both can be reached on 0208 949 9500.
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