Mediation: It’s good to talk about it

Planners are increasingly using mediation and independent assessment services to become involved in the resolution of family law disputes between clients.

The Argyle Partnership solicitor Nabil Wahhab says mediation and independent assessment offers a potentially quick and cheap alternative to divorcing clients, compared to having a judge order the division of their jointly-held property.

Other benefits include less emotional stress on spouses (and children), early dispute resolution, and easier communication with each other post-divorce, he says.

“Mediation and independent assessment allows both spouses to walk away feeling they have achieved the result they wanted to achieve, and therefore lays the foundation for future communication to continue.

“Going through a family court hearing, by contrast, can leave one or both spouses unhappy, resulting in poor communication going forward.”

Planners are an integral part of the independent assessment and mediation process because of their intimate knowledge of each spouse’s financial position, according to Wahhab.

“Effectively, their role is to assist the mediator and independent assessor to divide the couple’s assets, and they could also be involved in the mediation itself.”

“They can help to tell the mediator where both clients are coming from in their demands, and often the mere familiarity of their presence during mediation can be a source of comfort to both spouses.”

Participation increases a planner’s chances of retaining both spouses as clients, he says, now that their “asset position has changed and their risk position also”.

Mediation represents a service to both spouses, as opposed to acting for one client, in which the assessor and mediator will provide an opinion on the division of their matrimonial assets.

“The parties can then either accept that opinion, and document it as orders of the court, or they can use the opinion in further negotiations between them.

“It allows parties to get a divorce for between $5,000 and $6,000 in legal fees and gets them the result that a judge may tell them anyway, having spent up to $100,000 each or between them in total.”