Getting Separated

HelliBelli

Can any one explain what is the difference between a mediated legal separation and a legal separation through a solicitor. I am getting separated from my philandering husband and really don't know what is the best way to go about it. All I keep hearing is disaster stories about court. Thanks

whiterebel

HelliBelli wrote: »

Can any one explain what is the difference between a mediated legal separation and a legal separation through a solicitor. I am getting separated from my philandering husband and really don't know what is the best way to go about it. All I keep hearing is disaster stories about court. Thanks

Get yourself a good solicitor first and foremost. Or Citizen's Advice if you want to keep it low key at first.

dudara

Moved to Legal Discussion

dudara

Delancey

There is a state-sponsored mediation service for couples separating and the broad idea is that issues like housing , maintenace , access , etc get sorted out at the mediation stage , when all is done a mediated agreement is drawn up - Note ; A mediated agreement is not legally binding.
A legal separation is a legally binding agreement drawn up by solicitors that covers the above areas - the drawback is that it may prove relatively costly in terms of legal fees , etc.

What many couples do is to go through the mediation service and use the agreement from that as the basis for a legal separation.

Hope that helps

LILB

Dear HelliBelli,

A mediated legal separation is a legal separation agreed through mediation but formalized through solicitors it uses both professions at the same time.

As Whiterebel has said it is essential to get legal advice before agreeing the terms of any legal separation, this is simply essential but be careful about the advice you get. Legal advice should be taken as well as mediation process as there is no doubt that mediation can take a lot of fighting and expense out of the process - it may also help you some stuff of your chest and get some answers about his behaviour.

I would advise Mediation with the advice of a solicitor before you sign anything. I went through 14 months of fighting before the JUDGE advised us to see a mediator before we could be heard more in the court. 9 weeks later we agreed the terms of our mediated legal separation and to be honest I understood a lot more about why our relationship was over (and that it would never work again) .

I was very annoyed with my solicitor as it was never properly explained to me that we could mediate and what the process could acheive, and despite ultimately agreeing stuff with the mediator I still had a solicitors bill of over €7,200 because we went to court.

Good luck with it whatever way you choose.

Closure

Hellibelli,

My name is Niall Hickey, I'm from Closure - a Legal Separation and Mediation
company (closure.ie). Our services include traditional separation mediation and mediated legal separations. In response to your question essentially the three responses you have got so far are all correct.

A mediated legal separation is reached after consultations with both a
mediator and two solicitors advising both parties. When successful
this is by far the cheapest and least stressful means of getting
separated - the traditional legal route is far more costly and
adversarial and the traditional mediation route (as delancy42 points
out) is not legally binding.

We offer a fixed cost full legal separation using combined services that include representation by independent solicitors for each spouse together with a MII accredited family mediator at a cost of €1,500 per spouse. If you want to get more information don't hesitate to contact me, or visit our site.

Best of luck,
Niall

Arsenal1986

AIM family services offers a free legal information phone line - 016708363