Getting divorced can be stressful and expensive – family mediation, also known as family dispute resolution, helps you to move on quickly, with less stress and legal fees.
Move On offers family mediation Perth clients trust – it’s a time-saving and cost-effective solution to finalise financial settlements and/or arrangements for children as part of your separation or divorce.
As an accredited family mediator in Perth, Ian Shann has over 15 years of experience helping separating couples to divorce without the aggravation of a protracted legal battle in the Family Courts.
Our excellent success rates speak for themselves, with over 90% of our family mediation sessions reaching a substantial or complete agreement.
The key steps in the family mediation process are:
You agree to mediate. Set a date and time for the mediation (“A”).
Confidential intake sessions (in person or telephone) with each person (“B”).
All participate in a formal mediation session to discuss and resolve the issues in dispute (“C”).
Move On drafts the terms of the agreement (“D”).
You confirm the terms of the agreement (“E”).
Move On prepares a draft Minute of Proposed Consent Orders and a Guide to help you to prepare an Application for Consent Orders in the Family Court (“F”).
The process will usually take between one and three weeks to get to preparation for filing an Application.
Family Court approval of an Application for Consent Orders may take anywhere between one and six weeks (and is beyond our control).
For your family mediation session (step 3 above), this is what will happen:
The family mediator (Ian) will introduce himself and outline his role, as well as explain how the session will work.
Each party will have a turn to share an opening statement explaining their position coming into the mediation session.
Issues will then be identified (these may already have been raised at your intake session as well) and discussed between both parties. Options will be explored that could allow you to amicably resolve the issue at hand.
The aim of the session is to resolve your issues relating to your separation so hopefully you will reach an agreeable resolution.
We are not permitted to act for one or both of you in finalising and filing the Application for Consent Orders – but will provide you with a guide how to do this or details of lawyers who will do this at a very reasonable price.
There can be a number of reasons why one person does not want to take part in mediation – and we completely respect that decision.
Mediation is not always the right solution when it comes to divorce (for example in situations where there is a restraining order in place or a history of abuse of any kind).
Should one person refuse to mediate, the next steps depend on what issues are unresolved.
For children’s matters, a certificate will be issued to the person who asked for the mediation to take place. They can then take this to the Family Court to let them decide on the matter. Find out more about the rules on providing certificates on the Family Court website here.
For financial issues, you can proceed straight to Family Court to have these resolved without the need for a certificate.
Accredited Family Mediator in Perth
My commitment is simple—to help keep separated couples out of the Family Court and minimise their need for lawyers, saving them time, money and anguish. Under my guidance, separated couples are able to Move On with their lives through family mediation.
Move On Mediation
The family mediation process will take no longer than 3 to 4 weeks from enquiry to agreement, rather than months or even years.
Within 4 weeks, you’ll get to Move On and put the stress behind you.
When it comes to family mediation, we place the emphasis on mutually acceptable outcomes. The process avoids legal arguments and encourages positive discussions, not family disputes focusing on past conflicts.
Move On offers fixed-rate family dispute resolution in Perth from around $1,250 per person, depending on the complexity of the issues. See our family mediation fees here.
Couples who resolve family conflicts tend to maintain better relationships moving forward.
Children who’ve had the benefit of parents who chose family mediation avoid the drawn-out stresses and begin healing much earlier on.
Family Court
Family Courts struggling to meet demands means separation takes longer.
While you wait, your life remains on hold and the stresses go on.
Family law conflicts are determined by Court officials who don’t know the parties or their children. Predicting outcomes when it comes to family disputes is virtually impossible.
Lawyers charge according to the time they spend on your case and not on the results they achieve. Even simple matters can cost a fortune. And that’s money you’ll never see again.
Family disputes that go through the courts make it virtually impossible for ex-couples to see eye-to-eye or move forward positively when getting a divorce.
Children are often affected by the ongoing battle between their parents when they go through the Family Court.
The process was so much quicker and easier than I anticipated – after everything I have heard about lawyers! And it was re-assuring for me to know how much it was going to cost at the start, not when it was all over. Thanks, Ian. I’d recommend you to anyone who wants a solution seeker and quick results.
— Bree F, Fremantle WA
Ian, your patience and persistence really helped us get to an agreement I thought we could never reach. I’d recommend you to anyone who wants to get family issues resolved as painlessly as possible.
— Michael G, Safety Bay WA
Thank you once more for your kindness, wisdom and counsel.
— Georgie N, Wangara WA
Ian worked hard to enable us to reach an agreement. He was always happy to discuss and explain everything we needed.
— Cathy & Steve, Subiaco WA
