QUESTION
how to go about mediation for child custody and support?
Asked on Aug 16th, 2015 on Family Law - Illinois
More details to this question:
Im going to go to mediation for my 5 year old daughter. Can i bring up in mediation that my ex husband tried to kill himself last year, had a 10 day stay at a psychiatric hospital, and has a substance abuse problem. He has a lawyer and i dont. I have nothing to hide. We put in our divorce agreement joint shared 50 /50. I reserved child support, the only reason why i did this is because i would have her 5 days a week as long as he didnt have to pay support. He was doing his half for a littlw but but then wasn't help paying her co payments, wasnt helping me with deiving hwr back and fourth. I do all the foot work, i take initiative with her schooling and extra curricular activities. We went to court and until mediation we have to go by the original agreement him one week with her, me the next. Its killing me but i need advice. She lives with me and she knows that. She knows going there as just visiting her dad. Please any input would help
1 ANSWER
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Hello, Anonymous.
Check to see if there are rules in your jurisdiction about what can and cannot be done in mediation. That will be your first guide as to how you may go about handling the mediation process.
As a general rule, however, you may bring up facts that support your argument. If the details you expressed above are true, and they lead you to feel one way about the situation, you should be able to tell the mediator as a means of explaining yourself.
However, bringing up embarrassing or hurtful details for the sake of destroying someone's character really won't help you in the long run as it will only make you look bad.
Since your ex-husband has an attorney, you may seriously want to look to hire an attorney to represent you. An attorney versus a non-attorney rarely ends well for the non-attorney.
I hope this helps.
Answered on Aug 18th, 2015 at 3:33 PM