Move On Mediation provides mediation services – specializing in family law mediation – in the Perth area.
Move On was established to help couples (whose marital or de facto relationships had broken down) to resolve ongoing arrangements regarding children and/or financial settlement. To assist them to avoid the cost, time and aggravation of the legal system and the Family Court. And at a reasonable cost – expressed as a fixed fee, not hourly rates.
Move On is owned by Ian Shann.
Ian has been a family lawyer since 1992 and has practised exclusively as a family mediator since 2016. He was accredited as a specialist family lawyer in 2005 and accredited in 2007 as a mediator under the national accreditation system (NMAS). He is also an accredited Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP).
Ian uses a “solution focus process” in family mediations. This process assumes that parties have the resources to find their own unique solutions to resolve conflict. The focus is on the future, not the past. To find outcomes that parties can live with and feel that they have not been unfairly treated.
Ian is always available to answer questions and queries about potential mediations and can be contacted by email (ian@moveon.com.au) or by phone or text (0418 928 448).
The offices of Move On Mediation are in North Fremantle (details on page 11).
Family mediation is a form of dispute resolution where parties sit together and attempt to resolve arrangements for the ongoing care of their children and/or for final settlement of their financial relationship. The intention of the process is to give parties the opportunity to discuss openly what they hope to achieve following separation and arrive at a resolution that is acceptable to both. A degree of compromise is almost
always required. Any agreement that parties reach must be in accoerdance with the requirements of the family law.
Parenting arrangements agreed between parties are not legally enforceable unless they are approved by the Family Court as Consent Orders – so family mediation is a way of arriving at legally binding agreements without the costs and stress of a contested court process.
In children’s orders some form of alternative dispute resolution must be undertaken before parties can start proceedings in the Family Court.
Any agreement between parties about financial arrangements can only be legalized if the proposals are formally approved by the Family Court as Court Orders. Family mediation allows parties to do this. (There is an exception regarding Binding Financial Agreements – BFA’s – see page 4).
Family mediation encourages parties to sort out how they want their financial separation to be done – who gets what and when – without a fight in Court. The mediator assists them to understand the options, possibilities and consequences of their respective proposals to finalise matters.
Where agreement is reached at mediation, Move On will draft up the terms of that agreement in a form acceptable to the Family Court. Parenting Plans (which have different legal consequences to a Consent Order made by the Family Court) can also be prepared.
There are several alternatives to family mediation for finalising post separation arrangements:
Arbitration is available only in financial matters but is an alternative where parties want to accept an independent third party’s decision about how their finances should be separated. Pros: you get finality; Cons: can’t do children’s matters, expensive, someone else makes the decisions, time consuming and you will need to use a lawyer.
Also available to resolve financial matters only but can be useful, especially where the proposed arrangements might not be acceptable as reasonable under the family law. Each party must have independent certified legal advice before signing. Pros: finality; Cons: expensive, may lead to further conflict when legal advice received, don’t resolve children’s issues.
You and your ex could reach an agreement by yourselves and document it and sign it. Unfortunately, such an agreement is scarcely worth the paper it’s written on as it will have no legally enforceable or binding effect in children’s matters and it won’t finalise your financial relationship.
Pros: simple and inexpensive.
Cons: of no legal effect, parties can ignore terms, doesn’t finalise financial relationship.
Nothing will change.
Family mediation cannot resolve issues regarding child support or ongoing financial arrangements for your children – this can only be done through the Child Support Agency.
Financial support for your children can be discussed at family mediation but no legally binding provision can be made through Consent Orders. You can stipulate what you hope the position will be – for instance, that you will both contribute equally to the children’s extra curricular or education costs – but these “agreements” can not be enforced through the Family Court and will have moral effect only.
Consent Orders made through family mediation must also comply with the provisions of the family law and be reasonable and equitable. Therefore, you will not be able to make legally binding agreements that have not taken into account the relevant factors of contribution (including non-financial contribution) and future needs.
There are three possible outcomes at family mediation:
Where complete agreement is reached documents are then prepared and submitted to the Family Court and the matter is finished. A financial settlement at family law must include all of the assets and liabilities of the parties, not simply some of them.
Where only partial or incomplete agreement is reached the parties may agree to participate in a further session to iron out difficulties or differences or they may decide to make application to the Family Court and argue the issues that cannot be agreed.
If parties are unable to agree matters at mediation their options become very limited:
Move On has a fixed fee policy which means:
The fixed fees are as follows (plus GST in all cases):
Request to other party to participate in mediation $250
Section 60I Certificate $350
Mediation of children’s OR financial issues $2,500
Mediation of BOTH children’s and financial issues $2,750
Mediation fees are usually payable one week prior to the date for the joint session.
Cancellation fees may apply where a mediation is postponed or cancelled prior to the agreed date.
When you engage Move On this is what to expect:
If you wish to engage Move On Mediation to undertake family mediation, please complete the Information Form at this link and Move On will process your mediation further.
If you want to obtain further specific information, please direct your enquiry with the specific questions to: ian@moveon.com.au or text to 0418 928 448.
If you wish to discuss issues in person with Ian Shann, please text a message to 0418 928 448 and advise what dates and times might be convenient for a meeting.
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