Family negotiation & mediation services on the Sunshine Coast
When your relationship breaks down and you find yourself navigating a dispute resolution process, you have several options available to you that are designed to facilitate a fair and just outcome for you, your former partner/ spouse and to take care of the best interests and needs of your children.
Perhaps you have heard of negotiation, mediation and litigation. Each process aims to resolve family law matters by applying different skills and techniques and depending on your circumstances. Family Dispute Resolution and a Conciliation Conference, which can be accessed along the Federal Circuit and Family Court pathway, may also assist you to achieve a parenting and/or property settlement.
There are several ways for you to come to your own arrangements to care for your children or finalise your financial matters including:
- informal general mediation
- discussion with your former partner
- engaging a friend or family member to help
- participating in a special family mediation process referred to in the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) known as Family Dispute Resolution (FDR).
Mediation is a process during which a neutral third party, the mediator, assists you and your former partner and/ or other parties to:
- Find options
- Identify issues in dispute
- Think about alternatives
- Reach an agreement
Mediation is an alternative to a decision being made for you by a judge and is an opportunity for you to reach an agreement with your former partner and/or other parties without the expense, stress and uncertainty of a court hearing.
If you are separating from your partner, then it is advisable to start as soon as you can to find out what you may or may not need to do regarding mediation. Your unique situation will dictate certain mediation musts and possibly whether you cannot safely attend mediation at all. To find out more about your family mediation obligations and what to do about them, Call Nadine Love or Dr John Cronin on 07 5455 6347 or email admin@anumis.com.au for your complimentary chat and we will be happy to assist you. You can also learn more in our blog about the benefits of mediation!
How Anumis Legal can help you to mediate & negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome
When you need to negotiate and attend mediation to resolve your dispute, having Anumis Legal on your team has a wide range of benefits for you including that our experienced legal team will:
Assist you to identify the key issues for resolution
Suggest avenues and options to suit your situation
Attend meditation with you to advise, assist and negotiate for you
Assist you to prepare for your mediation with an independent mediator
Advise you on your position at law, having regard to your circumstances
Prepare Heads of Agreement once mediation has completed (if successful)
Provide you with essential legal advice and information to inform your decisions
Correspond with your former partner or your former partner’s legal representative
Draft and finalise parenting and/or property settlement agreements resulting from mediation
To book your complimentary chat with our expert, specialised Sunshine Coast Family Lawyers, call 07 5455 6347 or email admin@anumis.com.au now.
7 Reasons You must take Mediation seriously
Whether you are looking to settle your parenting or property dispute, mediation brings multiple benefits to you, in comparison to court proceedings where a judge decides for you.
1. Cost Savings
If you finalise your dispute and come to an agreement through mediation you can spare yourself the expense of the preparation for trial and lengthy court proceedings. It is also possible that costs may be awarded against you, depending on the circumstances.
2. Quicker Outcomes
Your dispute can likely be resolved more quickly that involving yourself in lengthy court proceedings. In short, mediation will usually save you time.
3. Reduced Stress
Mediation, while not stress-free, is more informal than Court. Mediation is far less confronting, and less intimidating than appearing at a hearing or trial with a Judge presiding.
4. More Control Over The Process
Mediation gives you and the other party or parties more flexibility and control. You can arrange with the mediator for the mediation process to be tailored to your needs. The Court process does not offer this flexibility.
5. Privacy & Confidentiality
What happens during a mediation can remain confidential. The content of a mediation cannot generally be raised against a party if your matter proceeds to trial and the judge is not informed of the detail of any mediation you attend.
6. Closure, Certainty, Finality
Your dispute can be finalised at the close of a successful mediation, and the resulting settlement agreements can only generally be changed with the agreement of all of the parties.
7. Greater levels of satisfaction
As a result of your inclusion and input at all stages of the mediation process, when you and the other party or parties come to an agreement, you and the other party or parties are more likely to accept the agreement you have made, and stick to your agreement.
Getting Your Best Outcomes for You: Anumis Legal’s Mediation & Negotiation Strategies
When it comes to advising you on how best to achieve your parenting agreement and your property agreement so that you have certainty to move forward in your life, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Our Anumis Legal Family Law Dream Team know how unique your situation is, and how your needs and those of your family are specific to you. This means that at our first meeting with you, your complimentary chat, we take great care to listen to you and to ask questions so that we can understand what is most important to you, from the get-go.
Throughout the process of finalising your parenting arrangement and property agreement, our approachable, tenacious and tough Anumis Legal Dream Team take great care to advise you, communicate with you and support you as your matter takes inevitable twists and turns toward completion.
While the Anumis Legal Family Law Team aims to settle your parenting and property matters swiftly, we prepare, as if we were to face court. This means you are in experienced, safe hands and we are ready, at any time, to negotiate for you from the most strategic and opportune positions.
If you are ready to book your complimentary chat to find out how the Anumis Legal Family Law Dream Team can take care of your parenting agreements and/or your property settlement, Call Nadine Love or Dr John on 07 5455 6347 or email admin@anumis.com.au.
Top tips to help you to prepare for your successful family mediation
Whether or not you are legally represented at your mediation, there are several things that you can do to put yourself in the very best position to achieve an agreement when you attend a mediation to resolve your family law dispute.
Understand the issues in dispute
Know the facts and sources of the disagreement(s)
Decide what is important to you in any resolution of your dispute
Decide where you are willing to compromise
Know your “not-negotiables”
Think ahead how you can best communicate with the other party and the mediator
Practice what you want to say at the beginning of the mediation
Consider what the other party might want and how you might be able to meet their wishes in any offer of settlement
Clarify what you might want to offer in settlement
Make a list, table or spreadsheet of the costs you have already incurred, and the costs you are likely to incur, and what part of the costs, if any can be recovered
Make sure you know what the possible outcomes might be if your family law matter went to court and proceeded to trial, including the associated costs
Your options for resolving your parenting or financial family dispute and what happens when negotiation and/or mediation fail?
When you are involved in a dispute, negotiation can save expense and a lengthy trial process. Negotiation requires discussion about the issues in dispute and a genuine attempt to come to an agreement. You can negotiate, or your solicitor can negotiate for you. If the negotiation process is not successful, mediation or litigation are your options.
You can participate in a mediation process, led by an impartial third party: a mediator. Your chosen mediator should be accredited and familiar with disputes that are similar to yours. Both you and your former partner must agree that you will try to resolve your differences with the mediator’s help. The mediator will not decide for you. You must reach your own agreement with your former partner. Mediation is a good option if you are motivated to settle your disagreements out of court.
If mediation is not a suitable forum for resolving your family dispute, your mediator, a registered family dispute resolution practitioner, will issue you with a Section 60I Certificate, which the Court requires you to file when you apply for Parenting Orders.
During the Family Court process you may attend Family Dispute Resolution for your parenting disputes and/ or a Conciliation process to attempt to settle your financial disputes. Failing these avenues to achieve agreement, a judge will decide your parenting and/ or property arrangements. Both you and your former partner must abide by the Court’s determination. If you have legal grounds, it may be possible to lodge an appeal.
For your free chat in confidence call the Anumis Legal Family Law Dream Team now
When you instruct us to take care of your Family Law matter, we are patient and meticulous so that we gain all of the information we need to consider your circumstances and your position at law. Then we can advise you appropriately on the outcomes you can expect regarding:
- your financial settlement, which might be by way of a Binding Financial Agreement or Consent Orders, if a result cannot be achieved by way of mediation and negotiation, it may be necessary to enter the Court pathway and attend a Conciliation Conference and, if that fails, a trial; and/ or
- your parenting arrangements, which might be by way of a parenting plan, Consent Orders, or if a practical, workable outcome cannot be reached through negotiation and mediation, then you may need to enter the Court pathway and attend Family Dispute Resolution or, if that fails, a judge will determine your Parenting Orders at a Trial.
If you would like advice and assistance to resolve your family law dispute so that you can gain certainty, finality and move on with your life, call Nadine Love or Dr John Cronin on 07 5455 6347 or email admin@anumis.com.au for your confidential, complimentary chat.
Dr John Cronin
Dr John Cronin holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management, a PHD in socially responsible investment, and is pursuing a further PHD in superannuation law. In his earlier engineering career, he led numerous large-scale equipment design and infrastructure development projects. A former financial and investment advisor, Dr John has a wealth of experience across banking, finance, and investment.
Nadine Love
Nadine Love holds a Master’s Degree in Dramatherapy. In her earlier career as an author, mentor and trainer through her books, products, and coaching services she assisted people to transform their personal and professional lives to find confidence, clarity, success, and wellbeing. Nadine was awarded the 2020 NSW Bar Association Prize for Civil Litigation and Evidence.
You can depend on our Commercial Law and Family Law firm to get to know you and your needs in depth. Our expert legal advice, courteously tailored to your specific circumstances, is at your right hand to that you can make well informed choices round the clock. We have your back.
To make your appointment or for further information: admin@anumislegal.com.au
or call 07 54556347
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