Combined Parenting,
Family Property & Finances
We know that sometimes you can't really discuss your parenting arrangements until certain aspects of your family property and financial settlement are clearer - where you can afford to live, whether you're going to need to sell property, or if kids can continue attending the same school. So we offer a combined mediation service to address all the challenges of separation in one process. We help you to negotiate a fair and practical property and financial settlement so you can make key decisions and put your kids' needs first. We also help you agree ongoing expenses like healthcare, child support, school and the costs of extra-curricular activities.
Combined Family Mediation can be conducted with or without lawyers present. You can also obtain independent legal and financial advice outside the mediation session. Sessions can be conducted as same-room or 'shuttle' mediation, either in person or online. Any agreement reached can be recorded as a Mediation Agreement and then filed as a consent order or a Binding Financial Agreement without the need for slow, stressful and expensive legal proceedings.
Areas we can help with:
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Living arrangements and the time your children spend with each parent
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School holidays and travel with kids
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Time with grandparents and extended family
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New partners and blended families
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Communication issues
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Education and healthcare decisions
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Relocation of one parent
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The transfer or sale of jointly owned property (i.e. 'buy out' or sell agreements)
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Urgent expenses and interim financial arrangements for parents and children after separation
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Education decisions and school fees
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Ongoing post-separation expenses and child support
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Loans, mortgages and other liabilities
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Loans between family members
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Superannuation
Parenting and Property Mediation
The Process
Combined Parenting, Family Property & Financial Mediation is a simple step-by-step process designed to help separating couples reach fair and workable agreements on Parenting arrangements, as well as their finances and property, so that they can move on with their lives. You can attend in person or online, and with or without lawyers.
Step 1: Attend a Confidential Pre-Mediation Interview
The mediator will speak to you and your former partner separately at a confidential pre-mediation interview. This session is conducted online via videoconference. The purpose of the interview is to allow you to meet the mediator and ask questions. The mediator will also clearly explain the process and the next steps that you will need to take to finalise your Family Property & Financial settlement. These may include valuations of family property, businesses & superannuation.
Step 2: Full Disclosure & Exchange of Financial Information
The mediator will outline the timetable for disclosure and exchange of financial information prior to your mediation session. This step usually takes place one to two weeks prior to the mediation session to give parties, or their lawyers, enough time to review each other's balance sheet and disclosure documents. This step in the process involves all parties making a full and transparent disclosure of all of their financial information, and it will usually include property assets, business assets, bank accounts, superannuation, overseas assets, share portfolios, as well as liabilities such as mortgages and credit cards.
Full disclosure & exchange is an essential step in the mediation process.
Step 3: Attend the Mediation Session
Both parties attend in person or online for a joint session of mediation. Parties can either attend a single, whole-day mediation session where the issues of Parenting, Property & Finances are discussed concurrently. We also offer the option of two half-day sessions, usually around a week a part. This allows parties to discuss all the issues, but it also allows parties to do some thinking and research between sessions, or to obtain more advice.
The mediator will help you use your time well by keeping you on track while you explore the issues, examine options and identify possible solutions. There will also be breaks when you can speak privately with the mediator and your lawyer, if he or she is attending. Depending on the number of issues and their complexity, more than one session may be required to work through the dispute. However, our mediators always aim to reach a final settlement in one session.
Step 4: Reach an Agreed Outcome On Parenting
Agreements reached in Parenting Mediation can remain as ‘goodwill’ agreements, or they can be signed and dated to become a Parenting Plan under the Family Law Act 1975. Parenting Agreements can also be formalised into legally enforceable consent orders. Applications for Consent Orders do not require you to attend the Court and, once approved, consent orders have the same legal effect as if they had been made by a Judge after a Court Hearing.
Step 5: Reach an Agreed Outcome On Property & Finances
Family Property & Financial Mediation Agreements are usually formalised as legally enforceable consent orders or Binding Financial Agreements (BFA). Applications for Family Property & Financial Consent Orders do not require you to attend the Court and, once approved, consent orders have the same legal effect as if they had been made by a Judge after a Court Hearing.