What you don't know actually CAN hurt you.

In previous posts I've mentioned mothers who have been beaten by their own sons and still had to pay the court costs. I've mentioned the process of mediation and how it's a process separate from that of a family lawyer. Today's topic brings the two together in a fashion that may help a lot of families that are struggling with domestic violence. The reason I bring these two previous posts up is because The Chief Justice of the Family Court wants to go into current regulations, play with the pipes a little, and make sure there is little to no chance of them exploding when a deteriorating family is brought to court due to violence.

Lots of things can go wrong when a marriage goes sour. There are discrepancies over money, over children, over time and possessions, there are intense emotions to be dealt with, but when violence gets involved, those cases tend to take precedence. Marriage is sacred, yes, but so is the value of a human life, and no separation should result, or should be the result of, violence.

The process is as follows: When families see mediators, they are often trying to settle the divorce without the presence of the courts. But when the mediators fail, the court is their only resort. The problem is, what's said within mediation is confidential. This creates problems and it creates solutions. The solutions it creates allows families to be more open and honest, knowing that whatever they say is confidential, and this honesty can lead to an easier solved dissolution. However, the problems are created when the mediation fails and they must go to court...all the information that was presented in mediation is now confidential and unavailable to the courts.

And people are a lot less likely to say exactly what's on their mind or exactly what went down when they're standing in front of a judge.

The Chief Justice of the family court seeks to end the confidentiality among mediators in order to make court cases run a little bit smoother, and to protect partners and children who have been the victims of abuse, or may be potential victims.