Invest in Mediation Just about every time someone contacts me for mediation, their first question is “how much will it cost?”. Today, I was looking over my website and the page all about “how much it costs”. The header image is of a little girl looking up at her mum. And it struck me -…
How much time is okay for my child to spend away from me? When our children are born, this question could not be further from our mind. Even on our hardest days (or nights) of parenting, needing a break from our kids rarely turns into “how much time can my child spend away from me?”.…
Parenting Plan or Consent Order? When families come to mediation, it’s usually because there’s issues they haven’t been able to agree on and they need support to end the arguing and make things different. But what should they DO with those agreements? Is a parenting plan enough to protect them? Is it the right time…
What is a Family Report? Section 62G(2) of the Family Law Act (1975) provides for the court to direct a family consultant to prepare a family report on matters the court deems relevant. But what does this mean? A Family Report is a document prepared by a court appointed psychologist or social worker (usually one…
How much does mediation cost? Just about every time someone contacts me for mediation, their first question is “how much will it cost?”. Well, to start, there’s the obvious – time and money. How much money and time you need to spend will depend on which mediator you choose. Time It costs you as…
What is a Contravention Application? Something I’m often asked, is “how do CONTRAVENTION Applications work?”. The families I support are often in the midst of arguments, tantrums, stand-off’s and sometimes parental alienation. Many families see this co-parenting stuff as a high stakes game. It’s all about competing, comparison, owndership, one-up-manship, tit-for-tat and pick-up-your-game. Some…
Things To Do BEFORE You leave the Family Home You’ve decided to separate. You’ve been sleeping in different places – the lounge, the spare room, in bed with the kids – but the pin has been pulled. There’s no going back, it’s been decided. You’re separating. There’s been crying and shouting, door slamming and…
Separation One of the most difficult periods any family can go through is separation. Even if ending the relationship was your idea, you might still experience fear, anxiety, uncertainty and sadness (to name a few). 1. Don’t assume This might seem logical, but this is an emotional time for everyone and your now ex-partner…