Can a mother stop a father seeing his child in the UK?
The short answer is ‘it depends’. If you are a parent, who is being denied time with your child, this is not the answer that you want to hear. If you are a parent, who is concerned for a child’s wellbeing, it might also be frustrating to hear. However, at the heart of family law […]
Family dispute resolution – Everything you need to know
What is family dispute resolution? Family Dispute Resolution is something that is used to try and sort out disputes that arise within the family without using the Courts. Families experience conflict, but sometimes this can be to an extent where it is causing a lot of strain to those involved. At Direct Mediation Services we […]
CAFCASS and Grandparent’s Rights
CAFCASS and Grandparent’s Rights It is sadly a common case for grandparents to have reduced contact – or no contact at all – with their grandchildren after the breakdown of a marriage or a separation within the family unit. A separation or a martial breakdown is a very challenging time for the whole family, but […]
CAFCASS Parenting Plan
Understanding the CAFCASS Parenting Plan A Parenting Plan is a written document that plans how parents intend to parent their children following separation or divorce. You can use a Parenting Plan to set out how you intend for child arrangements to work, without the need to go through the Courts. The purpose of the Parenting […]
Family Court urgent applications uk
Urgent and emergency child arrangements applications Urgent Applications to the Family Court The urgency of resolving issues around your children cannot be underestimated. Your children, after all, are your number one priority. A family mediation service is one way of resolving these issues but unfortunately is not always the right way, leaving parents with no […]
Financial mediation in divorce
Divorce financial settlement mediation One of the main areas discussed during mediation is how finances are to be divided between separating couples. It is very common for divorcing couples to use mediation before they receive their decree absolute, so that a financial agreement can be reached prior to the divorce being finalised. It is likely […]
Separation Agreement
What are separation agreements in UK? Separation agreements, also known as a deed of separation, are useful for couples who are separating and would like to agree on how property and finances will be shared once their relationship has ended. They are often used where separating couples have not decided to petition for divorce/dissolve a […]
Guest Blog: Child Contact Centres by The Starting Point
Family breakdowns are never easy. Even the most amicable of separations will hit a bump in the road somewhere along the line, particularly when it comes to the arrangements for the children. There’s always something to be discussed and an arrangement to be negotiated. What happens when agreements can’t be reached? Or when the court […]
What happens if i refuse mediation?
What happens if I don’t want to go to mediation? At Direct Mediation Services (DMS) we are commonly asked by clients, who have been invited to attend mediation, two questions. The first is what happens if they decline an invitation to attend, and the second is, does it look bad in prospective court proceedings if […]
Who Are CAFCASS? Everything You Need to Know About CAFCASS
Who are CAFCASS? CAFCASS are the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. This blog post will answer some of the frequently asked questions we get from our clients in relation to CAFCASS. Many of our clients are coming for mediation due to child arrangements issues and often in these cases CAFCASS can have […]