Why Choose Private FDR?
PRIVATE FDR IS QUICK AND SAVES TIME AND STRESS
With Family Dispute Resolution you can resolve your children’s parenting arrangements in a shorter amount of time as compared with a court hearing. A Court case could take years before a trial and judgement about the living arrangements for your children. At SHAW FDR, we can confidently see the resolution process taking between three to 6 weeks, depending on the issues to be resolved about your children. We pride ourselves that we will make ourselves available to you when it suits you. This will provide more certainty for the whole family and allow your family to move past the separation and on with your life faster.
PRIVATE FDR PUTS YOU IN CONTROL
FDR allows you to negotiate informally on a level playing field and in a safe environment. You decide on the topics to be discussed. Through the facilitation of an independent FDRP, you are empowered to come up with a parenting plan or agreement, which is not imposed on you like a court order. You decide the where, when, who and how of your FDR. You don’t have to wait for court processes to be complete to move forward. You don’t have to wait for a hearing date. You don’t have to wait for a judge to decide. You decide everything, and most importantly you decide the outcome about your children that is acceptable to you.
PRIVATE FDR IS COST-EFFECTIVE AND SAVES YOU MONEY
Since FDR resolves parenting arrangements faster than Court, it is also more affordable. The FDRP moves everyone forward through the FDR process as fast as the slowest parent to keep up. FDR spares you the need to pay for years of legal fees for court proceedings and trial, since you will only need to pay for the services of the FDRP. It is relatively inexpensive compared with the cost of litigation.
PRIVATE FDR IS FUTURE-FOCUSED
FDR is the chance to be heard and listened to, and a safe dispute resolution pathway, focused on achieving resolutions for the whole family. By letting you take the front seat in the discussion and encouraging you to generate options and consider alternatives, FDR promotes working together to achieve outcomes in the best interest of the children and whole family. In cases where total settlement may not be achieved, FDR helps narrow the parenting issues in dispute. At FDR these limited issues can be referred to arbitration by agreement.
PRIVATE FDR CONSIDERS ALL THE RISKS
Our registered FDRPs who are also nationally accredited mediators are insightful when it comes to resolving parenting problems. They are family lawyers and ask the difficult questions, identify the real issues and clarify all concerns prior to the discussion of possible solutions. SHAW FDR Practitioners want to address with you, your barriers to an agreement about your children, what the risks are for you and your children.
PRIVATE FDR OFFERS PRIVACY
At SHAW FDR, your communication with the mediator and during mediation is not revealed to anyone else in the FDR process without your knowledge, unless it is necessary for the purpose of complying with the law. Privacy can be a very important term of the whole ordeal. SHAW FDR Practitioners can come to you to meet in your preferred setting if this makes you more comfortable. The outcome you decide is also private. It is not published or accessible to others. Private outcomes encourage open and frank discussion and allow parents and children to keep their private lives private.
PRIVATE FDR PRESERVES RELATIONSHIPS
FDR is the best alternative to agree on parenting matters and to preserve relationships for the benefit of the children. The FDRP levels the playing field and protects you from hostility and aggression, while promoting collaboration, respect and kindness to achieve clear resolution about parenting arrangements, allowing parents to end relationships on the best terms possible.
PRIVATE FDR RESULTS IN LASTING AND MORE ROBUST AGREEMENTS
You are the one who knows your children best and what you want for them. At FDR you are the one who decides what you will accept for your children and their future. Unlike a judge making orders, you have the opportunity to craft terms of your parenting plan or agreement that uniquely suits your family’s needs. If you do that, then chances are, everyone will stick by the agreement until you decide it needs to be changed.
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‘I chose mediation because I thought that it could be a much more friendly and amicable way to resolve our issues. The expense and time delays relating to court and the effect on the children were things that I did not want. I did a lot of research online and chose SHAW Mediation, in particular FDR Mediator Alison Shaw because of her good reputation and background as a Family Law Lawyer, to me it just made sense to have a mediator that knew family law also. The set fees associated with the mediation was something I needed.
Alison is clearly and simply good at what she does. The process can be extremely overwhelming, Alison and her team walked me through from first contact, to the end of the mediation. Alison managed it beautifully and she’s definitely in the right job. I would 110% recommend SHAW Mediation Australia, so much so, that I would like to work with one of you in the future!’