Family Mediation – 5 reasons it leads to better parenting plans and custody agreements

1. Family Mediation can be quicker

There are huge delays in the family law system throughout Australian.  Using family mediation to reach a consensual resolution of your family law parenting matter can take a fraction of the time it would take in the family court system.

2. Family Mediation can focus on the issues that are really important to you

Most family court cases that go to trial before a judge are about the big issues, like safeguarding children from abuse, violence or substance abuse.   Family Court Judges are just not interested in every tiny detail of a divorce, or the intricate details of parenting.   Court is inefficient, drawn out and doesn’t meet the needs of most families. You can argue for years in court and most people are still not satisfied with the outcome.

Family Mediation enables you to craft a parenting plan that takes into account all the things that are really important to you – things like when your children will have their first mobile phone, when they will meet new partners – which a Family Court judge just can’t decide.

3. Mediation costs less

The Family Court system is not only suffering delays, but the costs of going to court are considerable.

Even if you decide to self-represent rather than getting a family lawyer, you will still have to take a lot of days off work to attend each court date.

Then there is the time spent preparing court documents and of course, the stress and the toll that takes on you.

Family mediation can usually be contained into one day or two half days – minimising cost, time off and stress.   We offer fixed fee family law  to give you certainty, up front, about the cost of family mediation.

4. Family Mediation can reduce the emotional fallout of your divorce

Mediation provides a space for you to communicate, listen and work together to reach decisions about your children and finances and take the emotion out of it, as much as is possible.   This can reduce the impact of your divorce on your children who instead see their parents communicating and co-operating.

5. Mediation leads to outcomes both parents can live with

Leaving a decision in the hands of a Family Court judge – who will never meet your children – is asking a stranger to decide about the most important part of your life.

Using family mediation to develop a parenting plan means you are more likely to have a lasting solution that is workable for everyone.  Unlike the Family Court where someone who doesn’t like the decision is stuck with it, when you are part of the decision-making process, you are more likely to be satisfied with the end result.  This reduces the potential for conflict between you and the other parent in the future and enables everyone to move forward with their lives.

Read more about our fixed fee family law mediation packages or contact us to discuss your situation.