This week is ‘Good Divorce Week’ , an initiative Resolution started and which family lawyers at The International Family Law Group LLP endorse.
Divorce is never easy, but with the right legal guidance and a creative approach, its emotional and financial impact on families can be eased.
This year ‘Good Divorce Week’ throws a spotlight on the crisis in the family courts, highlighting the impact the ever-diminishing resources of the Court Service are having on families using Family Courts.
Delays in resolving couples’ differences have significant detrimental effects on families. Uncertainty also breeds anxiety.
Whilst a determination by court is sometimes necessary, for most couples, court orders may not be the best way of dealing with their differences. Court orders can be blunt tools for resolving child arrangements and finances.
Where possible, iFLG seeks to resolve family issues through negotiation, whilst protecting their clients’ interests.
Alternative approaches to reaching settlement include:
- Through correspondence (many cases settle this way)
- Mediation (with an independent lawyer-mediator)
- Roundtable Meetings (with solicitors and sometimes barristers)
- Early Neutral Evaluation (sometimes referred to as Private FDR’s in financial remedy proceedings, where a private ‘judge’ indicates what they would order at a final hearing)
- Arbitration (where a trained arbitrator acts as a private ‘judge’ to make definitive judgments and couples agree to be bound by their decisions)
For international couples, it is advisable to only use these approaches once a client’s favoured jurisdiction is secured.
Settling differences through negotiation enables couples to have far more control over their future arrangements and finances.
Lucy Greenwood
[email protected]
The International Family Law Group LLP
www.iflg.uk.com
© December 2022
