The Family Court/Family Law system is broken and is not improving.
I recently discussed with a man inside the Fraternity of Excellence who was talking about how difficult it is for men to get a fair settlement and damn near impossible to get an agreement restructured, which had me thinking of ways I’d improve the system.
I came up with 10 items that must be addressed.
Not that this Substack will make a dent in the ass-backward politics of Family Court, but it might plant some seeds in the minds of men who are or may be getting divorced to ensure they’re getting the best deal they can, for them and their children.
10 Ways to Fix Family Law
1. We need a shift away from the adversarial model of family law proceedings and progress towards a more cooperative and collaborative approach. Divorce is tumultuous enough; this focus on making it as seamless and efficient in the dealings as possible would require the introduction of alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation and arbitration, as well as the promotion of the use of solicitors who specialize in family law.
2. The introduction of protocols to take place before court time, where both parties were equally represented, and the beginning of mediation started at 50/50 custody, and mathematical formulation that was not biased regarding any alimony was implemented. This would require the parties to enter into a period of negotiation and mediation before commencing any court proceedings, ultimately allowing tempers to cool and desires to be recognized and met as best before any final decisions were to be made.
3. Introducing a ‘no-fault’ divorce system would remove the need for one party to blame the other for the marriage breakdown. There are “no-fault” states, with each carrying specific exceptions. Still, if we were to allow adults to say, I don’t want to be married to this person any longer, it would not put either on the attack or defense; a resolution could be sought without anyone proving they were or were not to blame.
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