We are delighted to announce that we have launched the first probate mediation service in the local region.
Already highly respected for our mediation expertise, we have developed this new service to help people to deal with disputes regarding wills – the fasting growing area of court dispute in the UK – in a less contentious way that the normal litigious route.
Often those people who feel that they have to dispute a will are already dealing with tremendous emotional stress, having lost a family member or friend. The last thing they need is the additional stress of having to go through court proceedings to try and resolve an estate issue.
Probate mediation less stressful and costs less
Family Matters’ director Juliette Dalrymple says “As family dynamics are changing in our modern society, it’s not uncommon for couples to have children from more than one relationship, other people they want to support after their death, property owned in complicated ways and other assets. This can make the division of an estate particularly challenging. When disputes arise following someone’s death, sorting them out through traditional legal routes can take a very long time, and can be very expensive. Disputes can involve a lot of people (often all the beneficiaries of an estate), and, as each usually takes their own legal advice – all of whom have to communicate with each other and consider each other’s information and evidence, costs can escalate and can quickly swallow the whole of an estate!.
Taking the mediation route can be far less complex (and a lot less stressful); taking less time and costing a lot less. Mediation involves an organised series of structured, confidential, individual meetings where all concerned can discuss their separate ideas with an experienced mediator and the other people can’t discuss those issues in court without their permission. We would then arrange a meeting for everyone concerned. This can be in one room or separate rooms (shuttle mediation) if being in the same room is too difficult to discuss the issues raised. We have mediators who are legally trained, and are trained in working with families, so are uniquely placed to provide the mediation and the information required to help come to an agreement.
Probate mediation helps find common ground
Also, these disputes can often become personal and acrimonious and, where people are put under pressure to ‘win’, family relationships and friendships can be destroyed, leaving no route for conciliation and negotiation. Mediation works because it helps people to address these disputes in a far less stressful way that can lead to finding some common ground and building an acceptable settlement.”
You can find out more out probate mediation and how it can help you on our web pages
