K. Concluding Observations

• Author: Julien D. Payne - Marilyn A. Payne
• Pages: 171-172

Page 171

This chapter has focused on counselling, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and med-arb as processes that can be used as alternatives to, or in conjunction with, litigation as means of resolving the emotional, economic, and

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parenting consequences of marriage breakdown. It does not canvass or even catalogue all of the processes that can be applied or adapted to family conflict management and dispute resolution, nor does it recommend the outright rejection of traditional legal processes in favour of other processes. Indeed, separated and divorced spouses will usually find it advantageous to avoid locking themselves into a single process in their attempts to resolve the multi-faceted problems generated by their marriage breakdown. A few examples may serve to demonstrate that it is appropriate to utilize more than one process. Negotiations do, and must, continue after legal proceedings have been instituted. Indeed, the very institution of legal proceedings may trigger an early negotiated settlement and, even when matters proceed further, eve-of-trial settlements are common. Divorcing or divorced couples may also use different processes to deal with...