Conflict within the family is not only limited to the breakdown in the parental relationship and mediation can help family members find solutions to various disputes in their private lives.
People have successfully used mediation in the following circumstances:
1) Parent/child disputes
Conflict can arise, particularly during the teenage years between parents and their children, step children and indeed between the parents themselves on which approach to adopt. Occasionally the school and other outside agencies may be involved.
2) End of Life Care
Disputes often arise between family members over the practical and financial implications where an elderly relative can no longer live independently.
3) Wills and Property
Mediation is also an appropriate choice instead of or alongside a more traditional litigious approach to disputes arising over the distribution of property in a Will.
4) Grandparents
The relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is often a forgotten casualty in family breakdown and the Courts are only now starting to recognise its importance. Mediation has been successfully employed to re-establish this special relationship.
5) Facilitative Mediation.
Mediation is an ideal way of negotiating a Will, a pre-nuptial agreement or a step parenting approach on re-marriage. Often, with careful planning and forward thinking the potential for future conflict can be minimized.