Description:
International divorces, and the financial remedies that emanate from these divorces, are complicated. These situations often involve spouses racing to courthouses in more than one country to seek a divorce where they will secure a better financial outcome. There are no widely enacted treaties that aid in these legally complex cases. Instead, families are embroiled in expensive litigation in more than one country, each trying to out-maneuver the other with creative legal arguments, in the hope that they may secure a positive outcome first, and that the other country may recognize what happened overseas.
Mediators who attend this training will have a better appreciation for how complex these cases are, and gain knowledge to help them structure a mediation process that allows the parties to safely and securely proceed with amicable discussions and voluntary agreements, without concern of someone using mediation to gain an advantage over the other in court.
This seminar will be delivered online from 7:00 AM – 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time (Washington DC Time).
Mediators who take this course should be able to spot the following issues:
- When a potential forum/venue conflict might arise
- When to intervene so that the parties are not prejudiced in legal proceedings
- When the participants’ and mediator’s location could impact the mediation and their legal proceedings
- What happens when divorce proceedings are filed in more than one jurisdiction
- What happens if a divorce proceeding is filed in a jurisdiction that adheres to religious law
- Avoiding the participants’ using the mediation process to create legal arguments in court
- Working with everyone on interim remedies: interim support applications, anti-dissipation orders
- Other Legal complications
Mediators who take this course should gain the following skills to use in mediation:
- Screening (for financial abuse, disclosure of financial documents, disclosure of existing court filings, competency to engage in mediation (i.e., drug or alcohol addiction))
- Using Agreements to Mediate to establish guidelines for the mediation
- Using pre-mediation conversations to establish guidelines for the mediation process
- Using co-mediation to mediate when the mediation participants are engaged in a forum/venue dispute
- Mediating in a third country
- Differences in processes for HNW clients and those clients who are not HNW
- When to involve third party experts: how, who, and when; jointly or individually? (tax, immigration, trust, etc.)
- Drafting comprehensive financial remedies agreements
- The role of the mediator in ensuring court cases do not impede mediation: injunctions, agreements, retaining the order of legal proceedings, and working with lawyers
Course Agenda:
Before the Training:
- Mediators will be asked to undertake homework to prepare for the course by watching videos and reading literature that is provided in advance
After the Training:
- Mediators will be given a Hypothetical/Fact Pattern and have a set amount of time in which to issue-spot the forum/venue challenges that they must consider as a Mediator and devise a plan for their mediation process
- Mediators will receive their Certificate of Attendance only after providing their response
Training (Online):
60 minutes Discussion Among Trainers and Participants on Substance
15 minutes Break
15 minutes Participants will be Introduced to a Hypothetical Family/Fact Pattern
30 minutes Trainers will Discuss the Hypothetical with Participants in Breakout Sessions
60 minutes Participants will return to a Main Session to Discuss and Analyze the Hypothetical
Trainers:
Suzanne Kingston (London, England)
Zenobia du Toit (Cape Town, South Africa)
Francesca King (Milan, Italy)
Kai Yun Wong (Singapore)
Melissa Kucinski (United States)
Elodie Mulon (Paris, France)
Additional Program Producers:
Winnie Chow (Hong Kong)
Lay Lian Kee (Singapore)
Pre-Requisites:
- Basic Mediation Training (40+ hours)
- Trained Family Mediator (20+ hours of family mediation training, or is a certified family mediator in their jurisdiction)