Untying the Knot was founded by Jennifer Hetherington, a family law mediator and parenting coordinator.
Jennifer has 25 years experience working in family law.
Starting out as a family lawyer, Jennifer wanted to make a difference for families, providing a way to get out of the family law system, without Court so she expanded her skills to offer family mediation and parenting coordination.
Born in Aotearoa, New Zealand, Jennifer moved with her family to Australia when she was 13.
She completed high school in the heat and humidity of Cairns, Far North Queensland, moved to Brisbane to complete a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Queensland, and a obtained a Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution Practice from the College of Law in Sydney.
Jennifer is registered with the Attorney-General’s Department in Australia as a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner.
Jennifer now divides her time between Australia (where her Dad, sister and young adult child still live) and Wanaka in Otago, New Zealand, offering child inclusive mediation, family dispute resolution (parenting mediation) and property mediation in Australia, and parenting family mediation in New Zealand.
A loyal All Blacks supporter, she will of course barrack for the Wallabies if they are playing anyone other than New Zealand.
Her views about where pavlova was really invented will remain a secret but, she’s definitely Team Vegemite, not Team Marmite.
Jennifer loves music (she plays the piano and saxophone), musical theatre, and taking her Dad to the opera.
Whilst not talented at sport, she enjoys skiing (but her fear generally eclipses her skill level) and once ran a half-marathon.
She likes both dogs and cats, coffee and tea.
Jennifer met her best friend in high school (who was also born in New Zealand, but that’s sheer coincidence) and one of their favourite things to do together is karaoke.
She’s also very competitive at trivia nights.
Jennifer’s favourite colour is Tiffany Blue, but her graphic designer (the young adult referred to above…) wouldn’t let her use it in the Untying the Knot logo…
As well as working as a family mediator and parenting coordinator,
Jennifer continues to practise as a family lawyer in Australia,
and is an Accredited Family Law Specialist.
If you need family law legal advice, head over to Divorce Hub.
Jennifer has a lot of education and experience in family law, but it’s her life experience from her own divorce,
and 14 years of co-parenting, that make the difference and want her to keep helping families.