Mediation

Mediation in family law disputes

In the case of family law disputes other than divorce; for example, a dispute about the execution of the parenting plan or the details of the care and education of your child or an alimony issue. 

Custody and parental access issues

As parents with joint custody, you and your ex-partner will need to make joint decisions about your child. This concerns decisions about your child’s care arrangements or the principal residence, relocation within the Netherlands or abroad, school registration, medical treatments, permission for a holiday abroad, application for a passport, and so on. If you and your ex-partner have differing opinions about any of these issues, you could try to resolve the dispute by means of mediation. 

This also applies to cases where a parenting plan that was drawn up in the past needs to be amended in due course. It is advisable to consult a mediator to guide you and your ex-partner through this process. Most parenting plans include a best efforts obligation to first endeavour to resolve the dispute by means of mediation before initiating a legal procedure. The court will always first take the prior efforts to resolve the dispute into consideration before starting the actual legal procedure. In certain instances, the court could even oblige the parents to consult one another prior to actually initiating the treatment of the application. 

Alimony Issues

Mediation also offers solutions in the case of disputes about alimony or adjustments to the alimony. 

Alimony calculations are often technical matters. The divorce mediating lawyer can do the calculations for you and explain the basic principles that must be taken into account. 

In cases where child maintenance or partner alimony were determined in the past, but circumstances have changed in the meantime, it is possible to recalculate the alimony through mediation to facilitate new agreements concerning the payment of child maintenance and partner alimony.