FORMERLY INTEGRATE LEGACY DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Mediation Services for Families
NOW RE-BRANDED AS
Bringing conflict resolution into the process
Mediation tends to foster a positive environment where people at odds with each other can come together for a productive dialogue on the subject matter of their conflict. Mediation aims to create mutual understanding and win-win agreements. Mediation is a way to open up dialogue about the things that are making members of your family stop talking, act out, recoil in hurt, and/or lash out in anger.
We have skilled certified mediators, facilitators and coaches who are adept at handling the most challenging human situations... those that involve death and money, at the same time.
OUR SAFETY PRACTICES DURING COVID-19
OUR SAFETY PRACTICES DURING COVID-19
OUR SAFETY PRACTICES DURING COVID-19
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We offer 100% online dispute resolution services to support your family through the hard times
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We use a fully-online process including live Zoom meetings to arrive at negotiated win-win-win solutions to leave your family members feeling more whole than how they started
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When it's time to sign your settlement agreement, our mobile notary comes to you using top safety procedures, wearing mask & gloves the entire meeting & disinfecting all equipment between each notary client
Family Facilitated Conversations
Family Facilitated Conversations provide a safe space to discuss challenging family topics.
Let’s say there’s no actual dispute happening in your family but you’re facing some challenging questions like when is the right time for Mom & Dad to sell their home and move into a one story house? Or maybe your brother is an addict and you’re worried what will happen to him when he receives money after your parents die. Or maybe the family trust provides for an unequal distribution to the adult children and you’re concerned this will cause an eruption of anger when your sister finds out she’s going to receive less than you. Perhaps Dad is ready to transition to an assisted living facility but your family doesn’t know how to get everyone on the same page.
These are the perfect types of situations for a facilitated family conversation. One of our skilled facilitators will sit down with your family for a 3-hour facilitated conversation to discuss the concerns you are having. Each family member will get a chance to share his/her thoughts while the other family members listen without interrupting. The facilitator will manage the flow of the conversation so emotions can be expressed without overtaking the conversation in an unproductive way. You will all be able to ask questions back and forth until everyone’s voice has been heard and understood. Then, the facilitator will assist your family in brainstorming solutions that take everyone’s needs into account. Our facilitators are committed to creating win-win-win solutions for your family.
If one 3-hour conversation isn’t enough to address all the issues, your family will schedule another 3-hour conversation on another day so you can reconvene and finish discussing what you didn’t get to cover in the first conversation.
By providing that safe space to discuss challenging topics, Family Facilitated Conversations aim to create mutual respect, understanding, and connection. Participation is voluntarily for all participants. During the process, you and your family members remain empowered to say what’s working and what’s not working at any time so the Facilitated Family Conversation serves you all in the best way possible!
Probate / Conservatorship Mediation
Has your family already entered litigation around an inheritance dispute or a will contest?
Whereas litigation pits one member of your family against another, mediation brings the members of your family together in a supportive space so everyone can talk in an honest way. The mediator ensures a safe environment and facilitates the flow of conversation.
After both parties have a chance to share their side of the story while the other side listens, the mediator encourages the parties to identify their underlying needs and interests.
Once needs have been heard, the mediator supports the parties to generate win-win solutions that take into account both parties' needs. Often the parties are able to reach an agreement at the end of one or two mediation sessions.
When the parties are already in litigation, the mediation agreement can be submitted to the court to end the litigation all together!
There are many subtle benefits of mediation. Even when an agreement isn't reached, the parties often experience healing in their relationship just because they sat down together and talked in a respectful manner.
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Collaborative
Estate Dispute Resolution
Integrative Mediation
Did you know a Mental Health Professional and a Lawyer make a really good mediation team?
Integrative Mediation is a co-mediation model that provides a holistic approach to conflict resolution so that all aspects of the dispute can be addressed. As the parties are supported in uncovering deeper issues that held the conflict in place, they are able to experience deeper resolution of the conflict.
Both mediators, the lawyer and the mental health professional, are neutral facilitators. Integrative mediation helps people disentangle their emotional and psychological reactions from their legal and financial facts.
Emotions are considered a central part of every dispute and are always addressed with care. This dramatically increases the efficiency of the mediation and the likelihood of reaching a cost-effective resolution.
An integrative mediation model maximizes the odds that the mediation will create a lasting agreement. Parties often report feeling empowered in the process and feeling more positive about the other person.
Integrative mediation can promote forgiveness and closure as well as initiate new levels of respect and love in future interactions.
For more info, see Integrative Mediation Bay Area, www.IMBayArea.com
Dispute Resolution Coaching
Have you ever tried to talk to someone you’re fighting with so you can work things out, but that person won’t entertain the idea of talking to you?
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You may have experienced this when you asked a Mediator to support you in working through a conflict with someone but that other person refuses to come to the table with you and the Mediator. There’s still hope! With this cutting edge coaching process, you can get help with that challenging situation in your life, without the other person ever participating in the process.
In a Dispute Resolution Coaching session, one of our skilled coaches will work with you 1-on-1 to help you deal with that conflict in your life more effectively. Your Dispute Resolution Coach will help you explore your own feelings and needs so you gain clarity regarding what you need and how this conflict has been affecting you emotionally. Then your Coach will help you map out a spectrum of what your most favorable outcome would be all the way down to your least favorable outcome which gives you a helpful understanding of where you stand in the conflict and might create openings for action.
As your Dispute Resolution Coach helps you build empathy and understanding for the other person, new possibilities for progress and resolution will emerge. Your Coach will assist you in brainstorming possible solutions to meet your needs as well as the needs you imagine the other person might have. Toward the end of the session, your Coach will create an action plan for you moving forward and will develop communication tools to address, manage, and resolve this conflict (and any others) in your life!
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After a Dispute Resolution Coaching session, most people report feeling much more empowered to deal with the situation in their life even though the other person was never involved in the process!
Has your family already started arguing about who will get what when your relative passes away?
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Instead of fighting, endeavor to accomplish the distribution of assets of your deceased family member in a collaborative environment. We empower you to choose which professionals you want on your team and we bring that interdisciplinary team of professional mediators to your family to facilitate the estate distribution process.
A collaborative team typically consists of Trust & Estates Lawyers, a Communication Coach (who is a licensed Mental Health Professional) and a credentialed Financial Professional. We can bring in elder specialists, child specialists and other specialists as needed.
Is your family looking for an alternative to court litigation?
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Instead of fighting, endeavor to accomplish the distribution of assets of your deceased family member in a collaborative environment. We empower you to choose which professionals you want on your team and we bring that interdisciplinary team of professional mediators to your family to facilitate the estate distribution process.
A collaborative team typically consists of Trust & Estates Lawyers, a Communication Coach (who is a licensed Mental Health Professional) and a credentialed Financial Professional. We can bring in elder specialists, child specialists and other specialists as needed.