Our Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediators at Mediation of Coral Springs, Inc. have found that one of the more difficult hurdles to overcome during a mediation is how parties perceive each other and their marital assets and debts.
When a spouse files and serves the other spouse with a Florida Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, one of the first things that can happen is distrust. A person can get in his or her own way once a conflict begins by doing things like making assumptions about the other person without verifying whether or not there is any truth to what is being assumed. It is common for one spouse to place blame on the other for all of the issues in the marriage without taking any responsibility themselves; or having selective recall about the problems that their behavior created. In addition, this behavior may reflect one spouses fear of financial instability or even vindictiveness toward the soon-to-be ex-spouse.
These kinds of attitudes can create problems at mediation, because mediation is supposed to be a structured, interactive process where a neutral mediator uses negotiation techniques to assist parties who are in an active dispute to resolve their issues; but when one spouse desires to disrupt the process it creates a whole different set of dynamics for our mediators to deal with.
At Mediation of Coral Springs, Inc., we encourage all participants to actively participate in the process. Since mediation is a “party-centered” process, it is primarily focused on the needs and interests of the two spouses. Our Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediators recognize that when the parties are unable to communicate at mediation, it is nearly impossible to reach a settlement agreement.
At Mediation of Coral Springs, Inc., we encourage the spouses to understand that mediation is not supposed to be an antagonistic process but should be an amicable setting that is designed to help the spouses move forward in their soon to be single lives. Our Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediators explain to spouses who have children in common that once their divorce is finalized, they still have to speak to each other in order to co-parent their children. Otherwise, these same parties will constantly be in dispute about child related issues such as time sharing, extracurricular activities, education and religious training. Further, these types of attitudes create harm for the children that can alienate children against one or both parents.
Our Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediators would hope that two individuals who used to love one another, can put aside their animosity and mediate their issues with Mediation of Coral Springs, Inc. in a civil manner. Doing so will not only benefit your children in the future, but will also promote the divorcing spouses walking away from their marriage with a negotiated settlement agreement.