At Bayside Mediation Melbourne, our approach to family mediation is different. Why? Because we sit with you and listen to your story, then advise you of your many options – all of them, not just legal options.
We can help if you have separated, are thinking of separating, or even if you are experiencing difficulties with your current co-parenting arrangements. As part of our family mediation services, we have contacts with professionals in all areas of emotional, financial and legal support for separating couples.
We can provide you with a second to none Family Dispute Resolution or Family Law Mediation service. Each member of our staff is an experienced, compassionate and skilled Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, able to help you resolve your differences in a safe and managed environment. Bayside Mediation Melbourne offers you support, and can answer all of your questions.
During this difficult time having someone who can support and guide you in a direction that best suits the needs of you and your family, is invaluable.
Our clients and their children are our primary focus. We understand that every family member has different requirements to be able to move on with their lives.
At Bayside Mediation, each Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP) will support you to explore all your options. Through the process of family mediation, they will assist you to make the best possible choices for you and your family.
It is a difficult transition from intact family to co-parents. We can pair you with a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner with the training and experience to support all family members through this important transition.
Each mediator is a qualified and registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, so we can issue a 60(I) certificate if it is needed. Your Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner will work with you from intake to settlement and beyond, providing a family mediation service that you can depend on.
We strive to understand your issues and work with you to resolve them. Private family mediation is a quick, cost effective, safe and empowering way to address your differences and negotiate your agreements.
As separating parents, you need to decide how you will share the care of your children. You are encouraged by the Family Law Act to come up with an agreement without going to court.
A parenting plan is a legally written agreement detailing the arrangements you wish to put into place for your children. Parenting plans work because unlike court orders they are made by you as parents, based on what you know will work for your family. They can be as detailed or as brief as you need but having an agreed plan can significantly help to minimise the amount of harmful conflict your children are exposed to.
Unlike court imposed parenting orders, parenting plans are flexible and fluid. They can be reviewed and amended by agreement, as the needs of your children and family invariably change.
At Bayside Mediation we take a child focused approach, we help to facilitate the conversation between you in a pragmatic and non-judgemental manner. Our family mediation centre provides you with as much legal information and practical support as you need, while ensuring an equality of bargaining power between the two of you. As a child focused resolution centre, we advocate always for the care and wellbeing of your children, and help you both to reality check your proposed arrangements to ensure that you are not setting yourselves up for failure.
With 10 Years Of Bayside Mediation Experience
When you separate you will need to reach an agreement with your former partner on how the assets and/or liabilities of the relationship are going to be split between the two of you.
Before you make any proposals to each other, you need to understand the Family Law legal financial framework. It will help you reach an agreement. Don’t worry, at our family mediation centre we help you understand the legal language, especially those factors the Family Court considers in assessing whether your agreement is ‘Just and Equitable’.
The reason this is important is that ultimately you will need to formalise your agreement to make it legally binding. Most of our clients do so by filing an Application for Consent Orders with the Family Court. It would be a waste of your time to negotiate an agreement which the Court would not accept. With the help of a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, you will understand what your rights and obligations are. We work with you to guide you and your former partner towards an agreement which the Court will accept.
And of course, if you need the advice of a solicitor, we can provide the names of solicitors. We know the solicitors we recommend will do the right thing by you. We can also work with yours. At Bayside Mediation, each family dispute resolution practitioner has extensive experience and expertise in financial negotiations and can help you every step of the way.
At times with financial and property mediations, parties get bogged down after their first mediation session and need legal advice to be able to progress.
At Bayside Mediation we can provide the opportunity for you and your former partner to have your solicitors attend with you at your mediation. Your solicitors are there as your support person and to give you advice. They are not there to speak or negotiate on your behalf.
It is still your mediation and you make the decisions that best suit you and your family. The advantages are many, you have the person on hand who can give you the advice you need to be able to negotiate your settlement. You can be clear on your rights and obligations in relation to any agreement reached. You save many thousands of dollars in legal costs. The family mediation process can take just weeks not months and years, as is the case if you use the Family Court to decide your future.
Also, our offices are purpose-built mediation spaces that are comfortable, non-threatening, and local, unlike the Family Court in Melbourne.
