The marriage is over. What happens with the house, the children, the pension, support, etc. etc. etc. It can be overwhelming. That is why we will break it down into manageable pieces, then build it back up into a final deal.
Both parties can get independent legal advice or ILA. This is encouraged. It is not absolutely necessary. Some parties never get ILA. Some get ILA to review the agreement e.g. at the end of the process. Some get ILA before they come to mediation and get support all the way through. Each party is different. We can provide referrals to ‘non-crazy’ lawyers.
A separation is a critically important event in the life of every family member. Fortunately, we have been through thousands of separations. We can anticipate most of the potential speed bumps you are looking at down the road. By anticipating these we can reduce conflicts later.
We have been at it a long time in Ottawa and area – over 25 years. We have a long list of trusted referrals e.g. real estate lawyers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, counselors etc. We can refer you to our trusted referrals – who value our relationships so we provide good service to our clients. You are not picking other professionals ‘out of the yellow pages’. When you attend mediation with us, you can access this network of trusted professionals.
We have a laser focus on resolution. We want to gather the information, have the discussion, write it up and have the two of you move on. I am often amazed when I hear about other mediators. They have four, five or seven mediation sessions? What are they talking about? This all costs money and costs ‘life force’ energy. This is not therapy here – we are dealing with the legal issues. There are non-lawyers who are mediators. Often they are therapists or social workers. Often they engage in therapy and not mediation and often their services cost much more than ours do – because we bring a focus, no wandering over into areas that we should not be delving into in mediation. We are happy to chat about issues over a beer or a glass of wine, but when we are in mediation, we are looking to resolve the outstanding legal issues. I am a huge fan of therapy – if we all saw a therapist once a week my bet is that we would all be much more happy, more fulfilled and our world would be a better place. But, in family law mediation we are addressing the legal issues that require resolution, we are not engaging in therapy.
We promise that we will work hard. We will be efficient. We will listen to both parties. We will bring our wealth of experience to bear on your situation. We will be looking extremely hard for a resolution that works for both parties – come join us.
As adults going through separation, we all (including the mediator and the team) have a duty to make this process as easy and stress free as possible for the children. Children are being affected by adult decisions. We all have to ensure that we take actions that minimize these effects as much as possible.
There are a lot of mediators in Ontario. Anyone can call themselves a mediator as it is unregulated. Darrin is certified as a mediator by the Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario.
If you and your spouse are interested in a half hour consultation to talk about mediation let us know and we can set up a consult.