Finances and Property

Dividing your property after divorce or separation involves having to make very difficult decisions. It can often feel as though there is no ideal solution, that options are limited and that achieving a fair solution is impossible. Not knowing how you are each going to manage after divorce or separation increases stress which can in turn increase the conflict between you. This is likely to then have an adverse effect on your children.

Family mediation is a quicker, cheaper and less acrimonious way of resolving financial issues following divorce or separation. Mediation works in the shadow of the law, which means that you will both need to provide full and frank financial disclosure of all your assets before being able to consider productively what your options might be. You would need to provide full financial details whether you resolved matters through mediation, your solicitors or the Court. The difference is that in mediation you both go through this process together which makes the process quicker and more efficient.

The mediator helps you to consider all available options and work through these together so that you reach a solution that you both feel can work. As neither of you can be forced into making any decisions, the end result is that your final decision will be one that you have made together. Consequently you are both more likely to feel that the outcome is fair. When a decision is made by the Court, it often feels like one person is the winner and the other the loser. Sometimes both people can feel that they lose from a Court decision.

Adrienne Cox, as a former solicitor and family law lecturer at Exeter University, has a breadth of family law knowledge. She is aware that whatever you decide in terms of your finances, you are likely to want it to be made into a legally binding document by your solicitors. You will be provided with any legal information that you may need to ensure that you have a workable agreement both in legal and practical terms.

In summary, family mediation can help you both to:

Work out how to resolve any financial aspects of your separation;
Gather your financial information as quickly and efficiently as possible;
Explore a range of options prior to making decisions;
Test the viability of options to ensure that any final decisions taken are workable for everyone;
Understand the steps that you need to take to make your final decisions legally binding

Testimonials

The mediations sessions that my husband and I received helped us enormously to discuss in an amicable way our finances going forward in our divorce and therefore reaching a settlement amicably. The sessions we received via zoom worked extremely well especially as my husband was then living abroad enabling us to carry on with the process in a manner which didn't instigate relationship tensions which both parties felt developed during negotiations with our respective solicitors.

Adrienne remained professional and sensitive to the upset and trauma that divorce can cause to either party. I felt that her mediation was clear, time efficient and with the ability to diffuse situations which at times became heated in a gentle but controlled manner.

I would most certainly have no hesitation in recommending Adrienne to anyone who unfortunately finds themselves going through a divorce. I would like to add that mediation not only saved my husband and I most certainly large solicitor fees but more than this it has enabled us to separate in an amicable way which at one time felt impossible. After 11 years of marriage this has been a gift in order to remember the good that we had together and not to be bitter because of the nature of the divorce process.

I can't fully express really just how helpful, reassuring and supportive I found working with you to be. You helped me to find a way through such difficult discussions and decisions at such a confusing and vulnerable time. Thank you so very much.

I was really pleased with it. I felt comfortable that we were going through things with a level headed, tactful guide.

I cannot think of any way to improve your service. It was especially tricky through lockdown and the fact that we were able to keep meeting in a safe, supportive and productive way was amazing.

Mediation with you exceeded my expectations. Having had several sessions with a different mediation service, I was apprehensive and actually pretty fearful of how the process would leave me feeling. You always made me feel reassured and I felt that our family was in good hands. Your calm and sensitive approach, along with your considerable expertise was invaluable and I so appreciated your honesty and objectivity. I always felt listened to and that the whole experience was impartial and balanced, with the welfare of the girls at the centre of everything. I would have been happy and confident for you to meet with the girls had we reached that point, knowing that you would be sensitive to them and their needs too.

Thank you so much for all your help and advice. I have found the experience invaluable and still often refer back to some of the things we talked about to guide my decisions and actions.

You were very helpful and approachable and fair. You kept us on track when conversations went off on a tangent & allowed us to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

I would highly recommend Adrienne Cox for any couple who is going through a divorce ( and especially where a young child is involved as was in our situation ). Adrienne is very professional, highly skilled and knowledgeable.

It has been a long road with many ups and downs between myself and my husband but Adrienne has always remained very professional, neutral and very patient. We got there in the end, thanks to Adrienne,with an amicable, healthy relationship between ourselves which is the best outcome possible for our Son and a clearer future for us all.

I was very impressed with your professional service and the way the sessions were conducted in a calm and understanding environment.

I am satisfied and convinced that I couldn't have found a more competent, professional and sympathetic mediator and mediation service than that offered by yourself and your mediation service.

Just to let you know that the consent order has now been approved, the house transferred and the decree of absolute through, so all done and dusted thanks to mediation.

I didn't know what to expect having never been through it before but was very satisfied with your service. I really didn't know where to turn but your service really helped me.

The client reported that the mediation with you was really good. You were understanding but firm and he said he thought they had all come away from mediation feeling progress had been made with them all having compromised.