Family Dispute Resolution
Timothy is a Ministry of Justice approved/accredited Provider for Family Dispute Resolution (FDR), which means he is able to offer all aspects of the FDR service also known as Family Mediation.
Back in 2014, Timothy set up the at the time, the largest Not for Profit FDR service in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Family Works Resolution Service.
Now, in 2023 Timothy offers speedy and quick FDR Family Mediation privately from his rooms in Auckland or Palmerston North, or Nationwide via Zoom Video conferencing.
If you wish to apply for the government funded model of Family Dispute Resolution with Timothy, in the Upper North island (including Auckland) please contact the FDR Centre, and if you are in the Lower North island (including Palmerston North where Timothy has an office) or anywhere in the South Island, either the FDR Centre or the Family Works Resolution Service. Timothy works with both the FDR Centre and Family Works Resolution Service.
What is Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)?
Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is a Ministry of Justice service designed to support people needing help resolving parenting matters before having to consider going to Court.
FDR involves an independent professional (the FDRP) helping parents identify the matters in dispute, facilitating discussion, and assisting them in reaching an agreement.
FDR is focused on helping separating/separated parents and guardians achieve lasting outcomes, and giving them skills and greater confidence to resolve future problems. FDR also encourages parents to be responsible for reducing the adverse effects of conflict on children.
FDR is mandatory for almost everyone before commencing Care of Children Act 2004 (CoCA) proceedings. In cases where FDR is may be inappropriate (for example, urgent proceedings, some safety risks, or family violence issues), parties may be able to go directly to the Family Court and have an application accepted for a Family Court resolved outcome.
What types of matters go to Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)?
FDR deals with matters where those interested in the safety and wellbeing of any children are trying to agree on parenting or guardianship arrangements. Common areas of dispute include but not limited to:
Day-to-day care and contact arrangements
Choosing a school and extra-curricular activities
School holiday care
Batter quality communication
Getting the best from OurFamilyWizard
How much does the MOJ funded Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) with Timothy cost?
In many cases, zero. If you qualify for public funding, or ‘legal aid’ to use the commonly used term, then you pay nothing at all.
If you're not eligible for the Government/state funded scheme, then it is still very heavily subsidised, and your maximum individual contribution will be $448.50, which still provides you with 12 hours of funding for all aspects of ‘mediation time’ after assessment.
The good news is that the first part of the process, which is called the assessment, is free whatever your financial circumstances, and you will not need to pay for anything, until the case progresses past the assessment stage.
Once any case progresses after the assessment stage, please note the following with regard to ‘mediation time’.
Mediation time is any other time the FDRP spends on any matter working with the FDR parties. Mediation time starts at the very first contact between the parties and Timothy as the FDR provider. Any time engaging with parties in his capacity as the FDR provider is recorded as part of an FDR event, regardless of whether this time is “scheduled” or “unscheduled”. This time is all part of the overall 12 hours available.
Timothy keeps a record of the time spent with the parties. This includes unplanned/planned conversations over the phone, text messages and /or communications by email. All this time is billed and taken and reduces the overall 12 hours available in the case. Timothy uses standard legal billing principles of .1 of an hour (or 6 minutes) for each and every engagement and/or reply to any communication with parties.
Please note all communications with parties are billed and taken from the 12 hours available for Mediation, Preparation for Mediation and Voice for Child/Child Consultation services.
If Timothy has been appointed as the Voice of Child Expert/Child Consultant
If your FDR is with somebody else, it may well be that you have decided for a Child Consultant to be appointed to meet with any child(ren) in this case.
If Timothy has been appointed as a Child Consultant, what will happen is he will reach out to all the parties to introduce himself to each party with a phone or video conversation which typically lasts no more than 30 minutes.
Arrangements will then be made to meet with any child(ren) in the case, and once Timothy has had an opportunity to meet with any child(ren) in the case, he will then send a written report to the FDRP (Family Mediator) managing the case, who will then speak to that report, or more likely, Timothy will participate in a subsequent FDR family mediation meeting.
In this ‘feedback’ meeting, Timothy’s role will be to ensure the thoughts, feelings, wants and needs that any child(ren) in the case want to communicated to the parents and guardians will be communicated, using their words.
It is not the role of the Child Consultant to provide an assessment or an evaluation of what any child says, nor typically to make any recommendations.
The information the child(ren) provide to the Child Consultant are covered by the principle of legal privilege, which means that nothing the child(ren) says/say, which is reported back to the parties, is legally admissible into the Family Court should FDR ultimately not succeed.
If Timothy has been appointed as the Preparation for Mediation (PFM) Coach
If your FDR is with somebody else, it may well be that you have decided for a Preparation for Mediaiton/Coaching meeting, in advance of your first joint meeting with the other party and the FDRP (Family Mediator).
If Timothy has been appointed as a PFM Coach, what will happen is he will reach out to you by text message to introduce himself to you and to schedule your PFM/Coaching session, which is always best done by Zoom/FAceTime or the phone.
When the meeting takes place, it will normally be for no more than 60 minutes, and will be an opportunity for you to develop some skills, so that when you go into your first family mediation meeting, you'll be less likely to be caught up in some of that unhelpful, hurtful past memory, and you will gain strategies to be able to stay focused and articulate clearly what it is you want to discuss in the family mediation process, and how are you can best go about making your case.
You may also benefit from receiving some technical information, or legal information about the relationship between FDR and the Family Court, always being mindful that Timothy will be unable to give you an independant legal advice, but will be able to provide a large about of legal information about the FDR/Family Court process.
Timothy will always remain impartial, and will never work with more than one party to a dispute. The are no discussions between Timothy as the PFM Coach and the FDRP (Family Mediator); Timothy will not share any information disclosed by someone in the PFM/Coaching meeting with anyone else unless there are any care and protection issues disclosed, which might require Timothy to contract statutory authorities.
How much does private Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) with Timothy cost?
The cost of FDR is significantly less than retaining a lawyer and proceeding to a defended court hearing.
If you wish to access FDR privately with Timothy, the cost for the entire process, which includes private individual Pre Mediation meetings for each party and up to 4 x 90-minute family mediation meetings, is NZD $4000 per case plus GST. If you wish to access Timothy privately for your FDR, you will have your mediation meeting within five days once all parties have engaged first.