Do you want to find out how to raise your child with your ex-partner without dispute? MIAMS Mediation enables couples to work on a plan to best parent your children together.
There are a few tips that will help you in planning ahead when working on a parenting plan with your ex partner following a separation. A parental plan is formal plan, which is a written document that contains all the outlines and the agreements that you have made with your ex-partner including the guidelines to raise your children.
A parenting plan is not a legal document but usually forms part of the child arrangement agreement. The benefit of the parenting plan with MIAMS is that it gives you to chance consider all the different scenarios that you might face and you will offer a possible solution for them.
It is necessary to outline the agreed-upon living arrangements and even your commitments regarding your visitations on holidays and on vacations.
Creating a parental plan with MIAMS family mediation involves several important considerations to ensure the best interests of the child are met. Here are key aspects to consider:
1. Best Interests of the Child: The primary focus is always the well-being and best interests of the child, including their physical and emotional needs.
2. Child Arrangements Order: If parents cannot agree, they may apply for a child arrangements order through the family courts, but this should be a last resort.
3. Equal Time: The plan should address how the child will spend time with each parent, aiming for arrangements that allow for equal time where appropriate and practical.
4. Child Support and Maintenance: Details on child support payments and child maintenance responsibilities need to be clearly outlined.
5. Health Care: Both parents should agree on how the child’s health care needs will be met, including decisions about medical treatments and routine care.
6. Education and Child Care: The plan should cover educational arrangements and child care, ensuring consistency and stability for the child.
7. Dispute Resolution: Procedures for resolving future disagreements should be included, possibly involving a mediator or other support services.
8. Immediate Risk of Harm: The plan must consider and address any immediate risk of harm to the child, ensuring their safety at all times.
9. Practical Issues: Practical issues such as transportation, holidays, and special occasions should be clearly planned out.
10. Communication: Effective communication methods, like regular phone calls or emails between parents, should be established to facilitate ongoing cooperation.
11. Support Services and Organisations: Utilize support services and organisations, such as CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), to assist in the mediation process.
12. Local Authority Involvement: In some cases, the local authority may need to be involved, especially where there are concerns about the child’s welfare.
13. Court Proceedings and Applications: Understand that if mediation fails, the next step might involve court applications and proceedings, but family mediation should always be the first step.
14. Young People’s Views: Consider the views and preferences of the young people involved, as appropriate for their age and maturity.
Family mediation services in England and Wales are designed to help parents create workable, fair, and sustainable parental plans without the need for court intervention, ensuring a more harmonious and cooperative approach to co-parenting. For more information or to start the mediation process, contact us and speak to the MIAMS Family Mediation Service
General information about Mediation, Please click the links below to find out more info:
Family’s are deeply affected by divorce or separation, especially when there are children in the family. Often these painful situations can be helped with the supportof a mediator who will hold a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting or MIAM. A MIAM can guide communication and set the tone for the goals of mediation.
When attending a court proceeding on the matter, the family will need to present an FM1 (Family Mediation 1 form) which confirms that a MIAM has been held.
As of April 2014, significant changes were made to the judicial system regarding separation and divorces, particularly where children were involved. These changes ensure that the welfare of the children is paramount, with minimal impact on the children and as little negativity as possible. One of the major changes was a requirement for a mediation session or MIAM to be attended before any court proceedings to do with financial or custody matters (hence the need for a FM1 to be produced).
If the split is acrimonious and both parties find it difficult to be in the same room, as would happen with face to face mediation, it is possible to ask for shuttle mediation.
Shuttle sessions happen when the two parties are seated in separate rooms either virtually or physically and the mediator shuttles between the two, discussing issues and offering solutions.
Shuttle mediation is often a good solution with distance between the parties allowing for rational and reasoned thinking.
MIAMS Mediators can also help with will disputes: resolving issues between and coming to an acceptable compromise to the conflict that arises as a result of separation.
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