28 October 2024
International child abduction: an explanation of the procedure
At the end of a relationship or after you have split up, you or your (former) partner may wish to live with your child in another country.
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11 January 2021
The marriage/relationship is over and yet you separate in an amicable manner?
That may sound like a contradiction, but it is not. It is possible through mediation, though you have to make a conscious choice. In this article, we discuss what is needed to achieve this and how it works.
Marriage (or relationship) is based on feeling. That feeling can turn into anger, sadness or impotence at the end of a marriage or relationship. As a result, the divorce can go badly. That is understandable, but it is better to prevent this from happening, if possible. This will allow you to talk to each other about the divorce and the agreements that need to be made.
In mediation, you choose to go through the divorce process together with your partner to reach agreements. Within mediation, you are not in opposition to each other, but instead you try to reach the best possible agreements together and with the help of the mediator. For example, you can make agreements about the children, the proper handling of the finances and sometimes also for the relationship after the marriage (the post marital relationship). The mediator is an independent party who guides and facilitates you in this.
Mediation is a choice that the partners consciously make.
In practice, a distinction is often made between a lawyer and a mediator, as if they were two different professions. It doesn’t have to be. There are numerous lawyers who are also divorce mediators.
Lawyer-mediators are family lawyers who have completed a specialisation course to become a Family Lawyer Mediator. Just as with a “normal” mediator, a lawyer-mediator will act as a neutral party for your divorce and will act for both parties.
Engaging a lawyer-mediator has specific advantages:
It sounds so easy; make agreements with each other with the help of a mediator , but how does that actually work? Mediation is not just sitting around the table and talking. Commitment is necessary . Mediation takes place in a confidential atmosphere, guaranteed by a mediation agreement. Mediation uses the proven and internationally used Harvard method. The focus is on solution-oriented action and thinking in terms of (joint) interests and not positions.
Divorce is often a rollercoaster of emotions on which the partners have different points of view. Emotions stand in the way of a clear view and that makes finding solutions more difficult. In mediation, it is important that problems and pain points be discussed. Making emotions negotiable not only helps parties to understand the problem better by providing each other with insight, but it also helps to jointly arrive at a solution.
In addition to emotions, people often have their own points of view on how divorce should be arranged. If “the why” of positions are clarified, it may reveal that everyone’s interests are not so different from each other and that a compromise is easier to reach than expected. This involves finding common interests, for example if there are children and both want them to grow up as well as possible.
Sometimes there are several possible solutions for a particular problem, and that is no different in the settlement of divorce. During the mediation process, you and your partner are asked to first think about possible solutions that strengthen the common interests and bring your individual interests closer together, without being bound by these solutions. By coming up with multiple solutions, you are more aware of the alternatives and it may become possible to combine solutions in order to arrive at the right solution with which everyone is satisfied.
If you and your partner nevertheless stick to your own positions, the mediator will together with you search for an objective standard, such as the law, and then look for solutions that are appropriate.
If you opt for mediation, you will have to choose a divorce lawyer-mediator / mediator in consultation with your partner. The mediator must then be approached. It is preferable to make this approach via e-mail (sending a copy to the other person), but you can also call. During an initial appointment with both of you – it is a requirement that you both attend (or join by video call)- the mediator will explain and submit a draft mediation agreement. After signing, agreements are made for the mediation discussions at the office of the divorce lawyer-mediator / mediator. On average, three to four meetings are needed to reach conclusive agreements. When that point has been reached, the divorce lawyer-mediator will draw up a divorce agreement, in which all agreements are included. Once signed by both parties, the divorce lawyer-mediator can file a joint petition for divorce with the court on their behalf. After about six weeks, the decision to declare the divorce will follow.
An important aspect of mediation is the confidentiality that is agreed upon and forms part of the mediation agreement. It is agreed that nothing said during the mediation may be shared with third parties (also the court), so that it is possible to speak freely with each other. Agreements are only agreements if they have been recorded in a covenant signed by both.
GMW lawyers has one of the largest family law departments in the Netherlands, with experienced and expert lawyer-mediators.
If you have a question about this subject or if you want to divorce with a divorce lawyer-mediator, please contact me.