When going through a divorce, children and their welfare should always be at the centre of every decision made, which is where family solicitors Emsworth can help. Family disputes are always best dealt with at the earliest presented opportunity, with the main aim being to find an amicable decision for every party involved. 

If there are children involved when going through a divorce, it is always important to get legal advice. Solicitors can help to provide all the information you need and often have plenty of experience in similar cases that will only further inform the recommendations required to get through an amicable divorce. Divorce does not always involve children, as there could be separations where a parent is not seeing their child as much as they’d like, or there might be grandparents who would also like to fight to see the grandchildren. Before starting any legal proceedings, you should seek advice to find out where you stand and what your rights are, avoiding any unnecessary stress and conflict during a sensitive time. Help from legal representatives can also figure out how much time they’ll spend with each party involved, where the children will live and how a person can financially support the children. 

Mediation is a practice that is not legally binding but can bring results in a much more amicable and controlled way. The parties involved will enter a room with a mediator, and the discussion concerning the children will begin. The mediator should not tell the parties what to do but can help to reach agreements or offer suggestions when arguments start to arise. There are many benefits to mediation, including having more control over the decisions made before even facing a court, providing a calm solution in an otherwise sensitive time, and improving communication between parties. This will continue to benefit them during the legal case and afterwards, allowing decisions to be altered and changed around more easily than they would have been when made a legal matter and also offers a quicker and cheaper alternative to finding solutions. 

Some parents or parties will decide they do not want to make their decisions legally binding, especially if the decisions made during mediation came about easily and with everyone agreeing. Some people may think it might cause fewer arguments in the future and allow for less stressful changes if there needs to be one, but others would disagree. Deciding to make decisions including children legal binding can often provide security to everyone involved and avoid future disputes. If both parties decide they want something more secure and legal provided, their legal representative can draft a consent order. The consent order is a legal document that confirms your agreement and will include details regarding where children will live, what amount of time they’ll spend with each party involved and the other types of contact that will take place. Other types of contact include phone calls, facetime or group trips out. Both parties will have to sign the draft consent order before it is submitted for approval.