Best Family Law Attorneys in Vaughan, ON

Mediation and Collaborative Law – What is the Difference? There are different ways to resolve family law issues arising from the breakdown of a relationship. Many parties start by trying to negotiate between themselves or through their legal counsel. Sometimes parties will choose very early on to enter into mediation or the collaborative law process before much negotiation has occurred or will decide after some attempts at negotiation to try another approach for remaining issues. Of course, litigation in the family court system remains an option for parties to have a judge make decisions about their matter. This blog will focus on two voluntary processes, meaning that the parties must agree on the process as well as the resolution: mediation and collaborative law. These are both considered alternative dispute resolution processes (also known as “ADR”). Since its amendment in 2021, the federal Divorce Act requires family law lawyers to encourage clients to consider alternative dispute resolution processes when appropriate rather than automatically proceeding to court. However, attempting mediation or collaborative law before starting a court application is not mandatory.