Mediation and Arbitration Can Combine in Family Law Cases
April 5, 2016 by West Coast ADR
Going through a divorce can be difficult for any adult; however, when there are children involved, the divorce can be much more difficult. One way that you and your child’s other parent can handle the child custody aspect of the divorce, as well as issues that come up with the child custody after the divorce, is by using alternative dispute resolution.
We fully understand that the thought of having to deal with your child’s other parent might not be akin to a nightmare. The good news is that when you use ADR, which includes mediation and arbitration, you won’t necessarily have to deal directly with your child’s other parent. Instead, you work with a third party to come to a resolution.
While mediation and arbitration both have their pros and cons, there is an option, med-arb, that combines both processes. When med-arb is used, the process starts off with mediation to resolve the issues at hand. Any issues that aren’t resolved through the mediation process, which involves you and your child’s other parent making the decisions, are moved to arbitration.
When the issues that weren’t resolved move to mediation, the mediator considers both sides and makes a ruling. You and your child’s other parent don’t get to decide the issues that are being arbitrated. The decision made by the arbitrator is binding.
We know that all of this might leave you with questions about how med-arb can help or harm your child custody case. We can help you to get the answers you need so that you can move forward with your child custody.
Going through a divorce can be difficult for any adult; however, when there are children involved, the divorce can be much more difficult. One way that you and your child’s other parent can handle the child custody aspect of the divorce, as well as issues that come up with the child custody after the divorce, is by using alternative dispute resolution.
We fully understand that the thought of having to deal with your child’s other parent might not be akin to a nightmare. The good news is that when you use ADR, which includes mediation and arbitration, you won’t necessarily have to deal directly with your child’s other parent. Instead, you work with a third party to come to a resolution.
While mediation and arbitration both have their pros and cons, there is an option, med-arb, that combines both processes. When med-arb is used, the process starts off with mediation to resolve the issues at hand. Any issues that aren’t resolved through the mediation process, which involves you and your child’s other parent making the decisions, are moved to arbitration.
When the issues that weren’t resolved move to mediation, the mediator considers both sides and makes a ruling. You and your child’s other parent don’t get to decide the issues that are being arbitrated. The decision made by the arbitrator is binding.
We know that all of this might leave you with questions about how med-arb can help or harm your child custody case. We can help you to get the answers you need so that you can move forward with your child custody.