Post-Divorce Mediation

Parenting Issues

Although you and your spouse or partner were able to co-parent well in the past and will most likely be able to co-parent in the same manner in the future, there is the possibility that your ability to co-parent may change, and it would be helpful if you were prepared for it.

It might immediately come to mind that you should return to mediation if you and your co-parent are having difficulty in making a joint custody decision if one of you thinks that a change in the parenting plan is necessary or if one of you needs to relocate. However, there are other more subtle indications that it might be time to return to mediation.

Your children will be adjusting to different homes with possibly different rules and parenting styles. They may tell you that something occurred in the other parent’s home which disturbs you. Or maybe you feel that your former spouse is not responding to e-mail or telephone calls quickly enough or that you feel resentment or anger in every conversation. Perhaps you feel that you could use someone as a go-between to get through a particularly antagonistic time. Before these relatively small issues build resentment and result in more serious issues, you should return to mediation to re-open the lines of communication and insure that your co-parenting proceeds the way that both of you want it to be.

Financial Issues

While it is true that it is difficult to change the terms of an Separation Agreement, there are times when one or both parties feel that it is necessary.  Some Agreements even contain provisions that the parties will re-visit support issues in the future.

Before taking an adversarial stance and commencing a Court action, you can try to resolve your issues on your own, and if that is not successful, you can attend a mediation session.  Even one session may help you resolve some or all of your issues without needing to go to Court.