THE GOLDEN YEARS AND FAMILY CONFLICT
Seniors work all their lives to enjoy their Golden Years. So it can be tragic when those golden years are disrupted by family conflict.
Mediation is a process that Seniors and their families can use to resolve their conflict quickly and economically and preserve their relationships.
TYPES OF CONFLICTS SUFFERED BY SENIORS AND THEIR FAMILIES
ESTATE ISSUES:
- WHO — Conflicts between and amongst family members and loved ones (particularly testators, grantors, beneficiaries, and those serving as caretakers, agents under a power of attorney trustees, guardians, executors
- WHAT — Issues including those related to: caretaking, selling the family home, moving to assisted living facilities, involvement of adult children in estate planning, trusts, wills and the administration of estates (often it’s a “who gets what” conflict)
- WHEN — These conflicts can arise when a Senior: begins planning for end-of-life; can no longer care for his/her self; or has died. These conflicts, if not dealt with using mediation, can result in lasting family animosity and schism.
FAMILY ISSUES including:
- CARETAKING for Husband, Wife, Mom or Dad (conflicts include those involving who gets this job, contributions by others, and compensation and reimbursement for expenses for the caretaker
- DIVORCE – no longer just for the young
- Equitable Distribution
- Spousal support
- Separation Agreement
- PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS
OTHER MEDIATABLE CONFLICTS SUFFERED BY SENIORS
- PERSONAL INJURY (for example, automobile collisions)
- CONTRACT (for example, those arising from agreements with a landlord or plumber or other service provider)
- CONSUMER (another type of contract conflict with a “lemony” flavor )
- ANY OTHER CONFLICT that does not involve a crime
A BRIEF OUTLINE REGARDING MEDIATION AND SENIORS
MEDIATION — A facilitated negotiation.
MEDIATOR — the neutral, trained professional who facilitates a mediated negotiation
PARTIES/CLIENTS IN MEDIATION — Those in conflict who:
- Realize the odds of resolving of their conflict are greatly improved with professional assistance;
- Realize that litigation in most cases should be the last resort;
- Realize that a mediation is a first resort in most all cases
- Want to limit (or avoid) the costs and delays of litigation and courts; and
- Are Wise! (A characteristic usually, and appropriately, associated with Seniors.)
PARTY/CLIENT BENEFITS
- CONTROL: The parties – not a judge—control the outcome of their conflict
- RELATIONSHIPS: Family and other valued relationships can be preserved and restored
- SAVINGS: Parties save:
thousands of dollars that would have been spent in litigation and attorney-litigator fees and- the emotional costs and trauma associated with litigation
- FASTER: Cases can be mediated quickly whereas litigation can d-r-a-g-g on and on and on
- CONFIDENTIAL: Generally, what is said in mediation is confidential; what is said in court is not
- SOLUTIONS: In mediation solutions are limited only by the imaginations of those participating— in a court the judge is confined to only those solutions allowed by law.
- AGREEMENT: 80-90 percent of mediated cases end with an Agreement
