One of the first things that people should understand, is that the goal of the mediation is to help both sides come to an agreement on a legal issue says family lawyers Edmonton. When it comes to family law, mediation is no different, except that people are significantly more emotionally charged on average when dealing with the breakdown of a marriage. Therefore, it is even more important that people are hiring a mediator to help them through the process.
The first thing that people should understand, is while many mediators are also a lawyer, mediator is not allowed to give advice during the mediation sessions. In fact, they will ensure both parties understand the laws, and their legal obligations. But outside of that, the mediator’s job is to ensure both sides end up with an agreement on how to proceed says family lawyers Edmonton.
It is also very important that people understand that they need a lawyer as well as a mediator. The reason why, is in order for the mediator to be a completely neutral party, they cannot represent one party or the other. Therefore, the couple needs to hire a mediator as well as retain their own lawyers. Family lawyers Edmonton says typically, people will be hiring a mediator, and sharing the cost between them, and then the lawyer that they retain will be a cost to themselves as well.
Not only is it important for people to understand that they need a lawyer as well as a mediator, that while they do not need a lawyer at the beginning of the mediation process, it is important, that they have a lawyer retained before the end of the mediation process. This way, they will be able to get separate and independent law advice from their lawyer about the agreement that they are putting together. This will allow the lawyer to give advice freely, and before the negotiations have completed. Since the lawyer must ultimately need to sustain the agreement set up by the mediator during discussions, it is important that the lawyers are consulted before the mediation is completed, to avoid having to go back and do more work on it. Family lawyers Edmonton says that the lawyer will also ensure that their client is fully aware of what is being agreed to, they are fully aware of all of the various options they could have chosen, and that they are still making the decision themselves.
It is very important that regardless of when a person hires a lawyer, that they go through the mediation to come up with an agreement of what their divorce is going to look like. Without doing that ahead of time, couples can end up fighting in court, allowing their lawyers to go to litigation, and ending up with nobody having an agreement that they like. Therefore, understanding mediator can help them reach an agreement more easily, is very important to the process.
Family Lawyers Edmonton | What People Can Expect From Mediation
Even though many people never expect to be in the situation of getting a divorce, family lawyers Edmonton says that 38% of all Canadian marriages and in divorce. That means 38% of couples are going to be going through a process that they never expected to. Because of this, many people are not well-versed in the first steps they need to take in order to get a divorce. However, understanding what steps they needs take can help ensure that this information is used to aid the process and make it easier.
One of the first things that people should understand is they do not need to have a lawyer before they go to their first mediation appointment. While they are going to have to ultimately get a lawyer before the end, family lawyers Edmonton recommends that couples come to their first mediation appointment, understanding that no decisions need to, or will be made during that process. But it is going to do however, is give them as well as their radiator an idea of how the process is going to go. If it is going to be easy, difficult, or if it is going to take a lot of time or not. This is also a time for people to evaluate their mediator, and see if it is someone that they are going to be able to work with. If not, then they have not started paying a lawyer before anything starts happening.
Prior to the meeting, a good mediator is going to ask each person to prepare for the meeting. Family lawyers Edmonton says that the best thing that they can do to prepare, is think about their core interests, their values and their fears. The reason why this is so important, is that mediator can understand what is most important to each party, and so that they are focusing on the things that matter most to them. This does not mean that each party should come to the table with a list of how they want the assets to be split, because that is going to be split according to what is fair. Family lawyers Edmonton says what people should be thinking of for this part, is what is most important thing to them. They want to end up living in the same city, or live close to their kids schools, or live close enough that their kids can see each parent on a regular basis. They want to have enough money to be able to engage in the same activities, these are the types of things that can help a mediator get to the heart of the issue.
Also, a great mediator is going to ensure each party understands what the rules of conduct are, especially if the communication has already started to break down between the couple. This rule of conduct might mean there is rules against interrupting each other, rules against raising their voices are yelling, and rules against physical contact. By stating these wills upfront, can help ensure that both parties are prepared to come calmly, and quietly to the mediation, so that a lot of work can actually get accomplished.