Last week was Resolution’s Good Divorce Week. As committed members of Resolution, Gordons Partnership’s Family team fully supports this year’s campaign to highlight the crisis in the family courts and raise awareness of all the different ways families can resolve their disputes away from Court – where it is appropriate and safe to do so.

What is Resolution?

Resolution is a community of family lawyers who are committed to working with families and individuals to resolve issues in a constructive way.

As members of Resolution, our family solicitors follow a Code of Practice that promotes a constructive approach to family issues and considers the needs of the whole family.

What is the Family Court Crisis?

Due to an overstretched judicial system, family courts are currently facing a huge backlog of 110,000 open private family law cases. Despite the best efforts of court staff, at the time of writing, the wait time is 43 weeks for dealing with financial and children matters.

How can I avoid this delay?

There are many ways to resolve your disputes outside of the court process, and these options are collectively known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The benefit of choosing ADR is that you will avoid protracted and extremely delayed court proceedings, meaning coming to a resolution will be quicker and more cost-efficient.

Different types of ADR:

Negotiation through solicitors

If you and/or your spouse are legally represented, negotiations can take place via solicitors to come to a fair agreement that you are both satisfied with. This agreement will then be recorded in a financial remedy consent order and submitted to the court for approval.

Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE)

The purpose of ENE is to encourage settlement discussions at an early stage to save time and money. At ENE, an independent party (typically a judge or senior barrister) will give their view on the likely outcome should the matter proceed to trial. This view is not binding. If an agreement is reached, a consent order recording the agreed terms will be submitted to the court for approval.

Arbitration

In family arbitration, you and your spouse will appoint an independent third party, the arbitrator, to decide on any financial and property disputes and child-related issues you may have between you. The decision is binding, and you and your spouse will agree to submit to the arbitrator’s decision. Arbitration allows couples to come to a resolution quickly and in a much more flexible environment than the court system.

As with negotiation through solicitors and mediation, the arbitrator’s decision will be recorded in a consent order and submitted to the court for approval.

Mediation

Mediation is an excellent tool for settling matters cost-effectively. With the help of an impartial third party, the mediator, you can sort any differences between you and your spouse regarding family finances and children.

The mediator’s role is to guide you and your spouse towards a resolution and help you reach an amicable agreement. The agreement reached at mediation is not binding, so a financial remedy and/or children-related consent order recording the agreements reached at mediation will need to be drafted. You should take legal advice during and after mediation to ensure you have achieved the right result.

Family Law Solicitors Near Me

If you would like to learn more about ADR and the options available, please contact one of our team family solicitors. You can call 01483 451 900 or email sols@gordonsols.co.uk.

About the Author

Hannah Creasey

Trainee Solicitor