Category Archives: Family Law

As we all know, the stress of divorce can affect a child’s academic performance as well as all other areas of school-life success. However, parents who have been divorced for some time, as well as a variety of experts and educators, say that with good communication, effective organization and shared awareness of their child’s needs, parents can smooth the path …
MORE

Children have an especially difficult time with divorce. At times, parents neglect to consider the ramifications of the effects of the divorce or separation on their children. Understanding how children will be affected by the divorce and the resulting parental relationships is an important component to helping minimize the emotional turmoil of divorce for children. One key area in a …
MORE

In Ontario we are lucky. The province funds extensive free and subsidized mediation services for separating couples, whether they are in court or not. Up to 8 hours of mediation is available, at subsidized rates, for all issues— parenting, support, property division. The statistics show high rates of agreement and client satisfaction. But some feel that voluntary mediation is not …
MORE

Helping clients identify the most appropriate dispute resolution process for their family just got a lot easier thanks to a new study in the UK. It is the report of a three year study on the usage, experience and outcomes of family mediation, lawyer negotiation and collaborative law: Mapping Paths to Family Justice. The researchers studied almost 3000 people across …
MORE

In its recent report, “A Case for Mediation: The Cost-Effectiveness of Civil, Family and Workplace Mediation,” MediateBC thoughtfully explores the inherent worth of civil, family and workplace mediation. The report points out the cost savings from sharing the cost of one mediator, instead of each party paying a lawyer to negotiate or go to court. Unlike more adversarial approaches, mediation …
MORE

I just attended the annual Dispute Resolution conference sponsored by Britain’s legal family DR organization, Resolution.

Screening is important in any family dispute resolution process to ensure that the parties, counsel, and dispute resolution professionals can engage in the process fully and safely. In family med-arb, there are particular concerns for the integrity of the screening process, because if the parties proceed to arbitration, they are “locked in” and cannot voluntarily opt out of the process. …
MORE

Accredited family mediators and arbitrators in Ontario are now required to complete training on screening for family violence and power imbalances in family law disputes. But what exactly does “screening” consist of? We often get questions about the screening process, and so we decided to compile a list of common questions, depicted in the infographic below: On October 7th-9th, 2014, …
MORE