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If you are separating, it is important that you make yourself aware of what options are available to help you resolve any issues arising from the separation. If you have instructed a solicitor, ask him or her about the various methods of dispute resolution open to you.
Mediation is one of those methods available, so if you and your ex partner or spouse decide to go ahead with this, there are two main routes you can decide to take.
If your legal costs are being met with assistance from the Scottish Legal Aid Board, your solicitors will identify a CALM Scotland mediator to approach. The mediator will ask the solicitors to seek legal aid ‘sanction’ or additional expenditure to cover the cost of mediation. Once this cover is obtained, the mediator will contact you and your ex partner or spouse to start the mediation process. If you have both instructed solicitors but do not have legal aid cover, then the mediator will be approached and each of you will be asked to meet the cost of mediation privately.
The mediator will have asked your solicitors only for the contact details of you and your ex partner or spouse, so generally will not be aware of the details of your dispute other than that you are both keen to resolve things via mediation. You will both be sent by the mediator some terms and conditions, a referral form and some information about the process, and will be asked usually to liaise with the mediator to arrange an individual session.
If your legal costs are being met with assistance from the Scottish Legal Aid Board, your solicitors will identify a CALM Scotland mediator to approach. The mediator will ask the solicitors to seek legal aid ‘sanction’ or additional expenditure to cover the cost of mediation. Once this cover is obtained, the mediator will contact you and your ex partner or spouse to start the mediation process. If you have both instructed solicitors but do not have legal aid cover, then the mediator will be approached and each of you will be asked to meet the cost of mediation privately.
The mediator will have asked your solicitors only for the contact details of you and your ex partner or spouse, so generally will not be aware of the details of your dispute other than that you are both keen to resolve things via mediation. You will both be sent by the mediator some terms and conditions, a referral form and some information about the process, and will be asked usually to liaise with the mediator to arrange an individual session.
At the first individual session the mediator will explain the process, take some information and note the issues to be addressed. The mediator will also assess the suitability for joint mediation sessions as well as screen for domestic abuse or any other issues that might suggest that mediation is inappropriate. The mediator will also assess whether co-mediating with another mediator might be a good idea, for example where at least one of you isn’t really forthcoming or talkative and another person in the room might keep the conversation going. If there is to be a co-mediation, consideration will be placed as to whether the other mediator should be male or female depending on the circumstances, and for the avoidance of doubt, the cost of the mediation wouldn’t increase in that instance.
If you have any queries about the mediation process, this individual session is a great opportunity for you to have those queries answered.
At the first individual session the mediator will explain the process, take some information and note the issues to be addressed. The mediator will also assess the suitability for joint mediation sessions as well as screen for domestic abuse or any other issues that might suggest that mediation is inappropriate. The mediator will also assess whether co-mediating with another mediator might be a good idea, for example where at least one of you isn’t really forthcoming or talkative and another person in the room might keep the conversation going. If there is to be a co-mediation, consideration will be placed as to whether the other mediator should be male or female depending on the circumstances, and for the avoidance of doubt, the cost of the mediation wouldn’t increase in that instance.
If you have any queries about the mediation process, this individual session is a great opportunity for you to have those queries answered.
At any point during or at the end of the mediation process, you can ask the mediator to prepare an interim or final mediation summary of what has been discussed. That summary would not be admissible as evidence in court, but could be released to the solicitors acting for you and your ex partner or spouse if you both wish. The summary would identify the main issues explored at mediation and also any understandings reached, so it might assist, for example, in the preparation of a legally binding Minute of Agreement.
If the mediation concerns your children, the process might involve you and your ex partner or spouse working out the terms of a parenting plan, and at the end of the process you may be left with a plan which covers all aspects of the future care and upbringing of your children. In court usually the only issue that can be explored is the living arrangements for the children, but with a parenting plan and at mediation, you can discuss and come to an understanding about, amongst other things, how you and your ex partner or spouse will communicate with each other in the future, how you will handle the education, health and lifestyle decisions that will crop up in the lives of your children. At the end of the mediation process, therefore, there is every chance that you will be left with a settled understanding about your future lives as separated parents, leaving your children free from the stress of being involved in their parents’ dispute.
Once mediation is at an end the mediator will submit an account for payment, but you would be free to be referred back for future sessions if you both wished.
For more information on the mediation process, see our frequently asked questions, and you can also find out more about the benefits of mediation.
If your legal costs are being met with assistance from the Scottish Legal Aid Board, your solicitors will identify a CALM Scotland mediator to approach. The mediator will ask the solicitors to seek legal aid ‘sanction’ or additional expenditure to cover the cost of mediation. Once this cover is obtained, the mediator will contact you and your ex partner or spouse to start the mediation process. If you have both instructed solicitors but do not have legal aid cover, then the mediator will be approached and each of you will be asked to meet the cost of mediation privately.
The mediator will have asked your solicitors only for the contact details of you and your ex partner or spouse, so generally will not be aware of the details of your dispute other than that you are both keen to resolve things via mediation. You will both be sent by the mediator some terms and conditions, a referral form and some information about the process, and will be asked usually to liaise with the mediator to arrange an individual session.
If your legal costs are being met with assistance from the Scottish Legal Aid Board, your solicitors will identify a CALM Scotland mediator to approach. The mediator will ask the solicitors to seek legal aid ‘sanction’ or additional expenditure to cover the cost of mediation. Once this cover is obtained, the mediator will contact you and your ex partner or spouse to start the mediation process. If you have both instructed solicitors but do not have legal aid cover, then the mediator will be approached and each of you will be asked to meet the cost of mediation privately.
The mediator will have asked your solicitors only for the contact details of you and your ex partner or spouse, so generally will not be aware of the details of your dispute other than that you are both keen to resolve things via mediation. You will both be sent by the mediator some terms and conditions, a referral form and some information about the process, and will be asked usually to liaise with the mediator to arrange an individual session.
At the first individual session the mediator will explain the process, take some information and note the issues to be addressed. The mediator will also assess the suitability for joint mediation sessions as well as screen for domestic abuse or any other issues that might suggest that mediation is inappropriate. The mediator will also assess whether co-mediating with another mediator might be a good idea, for example where at least one of you isn’t really forthcoming or talkative and another person in the room might keep the conversation going. If there is to be a co-mediation, consideration will be placed as to whether the other mediator should be male or female depending on the circumstances, and for the avoidance of doubt, the cost of the mediation wouldn’t increase in that instance.
If you have any queries about the mediation process, this individual session is a great opportunity for you to have those queries answered.
At the first individual session the mediator will explain the process, take some information and note the issues to be addressed. The mediator will also assess the suitability for joint mediation sessions as well as screen for domestic abuse or any other issues that might suggest that mediation is inappropriate. The mediator will also assess whether co-mediating with another mediator might be a good idea, for example where at least one of you isn’t really forthcoming or talkative and another person in the room might keep the conversation going. If there is to be a co-mediation, consideration will be placed as to whether the other mediator should be male or female depending on the circumstances, and for the avoidance of doubt, the cost of the mediation wouldn’t increase in that instance.
If you have any queries about the mediation process, this individual session is a great opportunity for you to have those queries answered.
At any point during or at the end of the mediation process, you can ask the mediator to prepare an interim or final mediation summary of what has been discussed. That summary would not be admissible as evidence in court, but could be released to the solicitors acting for you and your ex partner or spouse if you both wish. The summary would identify the main issues explored at mediation and also any understandings reached, so it might assist, for example, in the preparation of a legally binding Minute of Agreement.
If the mediation concerns your children, the process might involve you and your ex partner or spouse working out the terms of a parenting plan, and at the end of the process you may be left with a plan which covers all aspects of the future care and upbringing of your children. In court usually the only issue that can be explored is the living arrangements for the children, but with a parenting plan and at mediation, you can discuss and come to an understanding about, amongst other things, how you and your ex partner or spouse will communicate with each other in the future, how you will handle the education, health and lifestyle decisions that will crop up in the lives of your children. At the end of the mediation process, therefore, there is every chance that you will be left with a settled understanding about your future lives as separated parents, leaving your children free from the stress of being involved in their parents’ dispute.
Once mediation is at an end the mediator will submit an account for payment, but you would be free to be referred back for future sessions if you both wished.
For more information on the mediation process, see our frequently asked questions, and you can also find out more about the benefits of mediation.
