Family Mediation
Beyond the emotional trauma caused by a separation or divorce, there are all the sensitive issues that need to be resolved.
In addition to ensuring a more harmonious post-couple life, the services of a family mediator can help you make important decisions with a structured approach focused on family dispute resolution.
The meetings with your family mediator can be held by videoconference or in person.
About the service offered by your family mediator
Neutral and impartial, the role of the family mediator is to support the parties in reaching a fair agreement.
Subsidy
When it comes to child custody or child support, the Gouvernement du Québec subsidizes:
- 5 hours for an initial mediation session;
- 2.5 hours for each mediation session thereafter and
- 3 hours for a married couple without a child.
Why rely on a family mediator?
Mediation encourages people to focus on their common interests to find a mutually satisfactory agreement based on objective criteria. Here, the solution is neither legal nor equal. The solution is fair and tends to meet each person’s needs without violating the law.
Family dispute resolution through mediation can often provide a more flexible and personalized solution than going to court, where a judge makes a decision by applying the law. In mediation, as long as the solution does not violate the law, everything is allowed. It does not have to be dictated by the rules of law.
The solution comes from the people involved and meets their needs. It is tailored to the specific situation. There are very few constraints, and creativity is required to find common ground.
The family mediator assists parents or ex-spouses in managing the end of their common life, their separation, their divorce, or child custody, all in order to establish a framework in which they can evolve in the best interests of the children and themselves.
Your family mediator will take the time to examine the division of family assets, financial responsibilities and when there are children, custody and access to them.
Mediation for parents
The government subsidizes the first 5 hours for an initial mediation session and covers 2.5 hours for subsequent mediation sessions when the parties have children.
If the process is longer, the family mediator who accepted the mandate from the government does not have the right to charge more than the rate prescribed by law throughout the mediation. Our rate for the hours that are not subsidized is therefore $110/hour.
Mediation for unmarried parties without children
The government does not offer a subsidy for this type of mediation. However, we offer mediation services for ex-partners to assist them in the process of ending their life as a couple.
The parties share the costs related to the mediation, and the rate is the same as for the mediation hours that are not subsidized.
Obtaining a judgment to ensure compliance with the agreements
When the mediation is over and an agreement has been reached between the parties, the family mediator draws up a summary of the agreements. The parties can then have a convention drawn up (only lawyers and notaries are authorized to draw up
conventions; other mediators are not legally authorized to do so).
Once the convention is drawn up, it can be filed in court to grant it the same executory force as a judgment, which is also known as homologation. Only homologation makes it possible to demand that the convention be respected before a judge.
We prepare conventions that reflect the agreements reached in mediation. This service includes obtaining a judgment of homologation. To do this, don’t hesitate to contact us to learn more about our packages.
Our service at a glance:
- Collaborative environment
- Confidential process
- Flexibility regarding the topics discussed
- Up to 5 free hours for couples with a common dependent child (2.5 hours for reviewing an agreement)
- Up to 3 free hours for couples without a common dependent child
Approach
Louis Gosselin Avocat makes it easier to access the services of a family mediator by offering meetings by videoconference for people across Quebec at a fixed rate of $110/hour.
Information meeting with your family mediator or pre-mediation
During the preliminary meeting, which can take place separately or jointly, we explain how the mediation will unfold as well as the role of the family mediator. This is an opportunity for the parties to receive clear information about the types of problems that can be resolved there as well as the scope of the agreements that could be made.
Establishing priorities
A multitude of aspects can be resolved by ex-spouses in the context of family mediation. Of course, child custody arrangements, the division of financial responsibilities, child or spousal support, and the division of assets and family patrimony are often at the heart of the discussions. The family mediator can also help you determine how to break the news to the children, the school holiday schedule, or the custody of pets, for example. You determine which topics need to be resolved.
Agreement
At the end of the process, the family mediator prepares a summary of the agreements made by both parties. Although this document doesn’t have executory force, as is the case with a court judgment, for example, it can be homologated by a special clerk if the ex-spouses wish. This avenue is generally less costly than court proceedings, since the broad aspects of the agreement have already been determined during the mediation process.
Make an appointment with a family mediator
Initiate family mediation proceedings in a climate conducive to seeking out potential solutions with Louis Gosselin Avocat and get through this ordeal more harmoniously.
Other Services
Make informed decisions regarding child custody, child or spousal support, and all the other legal considerations arising from a divorce or separation, including corollary relief.
Determining child custody arrangements is one of the most common concerns of
couples who are going through a separation or divorce. Louis Gosselin Avocat helps you
establish an agreement that will be in the best interests of your children.
With the services of an experienced lawyer, your rights and those of your children will be defended throughout the process surrounding the child or spousal support decision.