Summary: Mediation And Collaborative Family Law

One of the most daunting tasks of divorce proceedings is the custody agreement. Although a judge must ultimately approve the resulting agreement, the terms of said agreement can be drawn up through various methods of informal negotiations outside of the courtroom. A fair agreement, one that also tackles the issue of a custodial parent moving out of state, is likely to be deemed as acceptable to the court.

If a cordial relationship is maintained between the parents, the best method of arriving at an agreement is to draft one together. For instance, perhaps one parent is given physical custody, while the other is given partial custody and visitation rights. If this is the case, issues that must be addressed include where the child will spend …show more content…
Although an emerging concept in recent years, ADR has proven helpful in resolving custody issues between parents. Much more casual than the typical courtroom setting, through the help of mediation, the parents have the ability to play an active role in coming to an agreement regarding key topics, rather than surrendering such decisions to a judge or …show more content…
Mediation helps the parents to avoid the hostility and trauma that can sometimes result from a custody dispute. While the mediator may be able to make a recommendation, they cannot impose a solution, merely acting as an impartial party. The goal of a mediator is to help the parents craft an agreement that keeps the child’s best interests at the forefront.

Collaborative Family Law is another type of ADR in which a creative effort is used in order for both parties to come to an agreement, replacing the litigation threats that adversarial lawyers are known for. Instead of coming to an agreement under conditions of anxiety and stress, the primary goal of Collaborative Family Law is to arrive at an agreement as quickly and painlessly as possibly, while ensuring the most satisfying commitment to a settlement for all parties