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Separation
triggers very significant practical and emotional challenges. The legal
rules can provide a useful reminder about joint responsibilities parents
have and an objective benchmark for fairness about financial matters.
There is a choice however about which legal process to use to deal with
the issues which need to be sorted out. The options are
mediation,
collaborative family law,
arbitration
negotiation or
litigation.
Since many couples separating have children it is likely that the
transition is from a couple to separated parents. Even if there are no
children, there will be a network of extended family and friends and a
shared history. Often the decision to separate is not a joint decision.
For both individuals the consequences involve enormous changes in the
core aspects of life. It is the ending of one relationship and the
beginning of another connection. The changes have significant emotional
and practical elements and pose risks and present opportunities.
The spectrum from mediation to litigation reflects the degree to which a
couple involved need to hand over responsibility for decision making to
someone else or need to invoke the formal process of law for protection
or to force disclosure of information. MHD’s Family Team can offer input
at any part of the spectrum.
It is very important to make the right choice of dispute resolution
process. The wrong process could either make matters seem more bad
tempered and polarised than they need to be or could leave insufficient
protection against bad faith or bad behaviour. The Family Team can help
you identify the most appropriate form of dispute resolution so that
what seemed like the end of the world can become a transition to a
different and manageable future.
Click on the individual links for more information about each of the
options or on this link for some practical advice on how to decide which
option is best for you- “How to choose?”
Return to Dispute Resolution Page
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