Categories: Elder law, Winston-Salem, NC.
Often, elder law disputes involve close family members and can involve emotions such as jealousy and greed. When such emotions are present, long and costly litigation can also permanently destroy family relationships.
Mediation can serve as a much better technique for resolving such emotional family disputes, and can often better preserve family peace, privacy, and can frequently result in a settlement in much less time and using much less money.
The parties in an elder law dispute may all voluntarily agree to use mediation as a means to seek a mutually accepted settlement of their dispute. But, where the opposing party remains contentious about using the mediation process, it may be more effective to use a “carrot and stick” approach to frame mediation as the most reasonable alternative. For example, an attorney may file a lawsuit or a motion with a court, then offer mediation to the opposing side as a more reasonable dispute resolution alternative than litigation. Or, in cases where competency may be an issue, an attorney may file a petition for guardianship of the elder, then offer to mediate after the guardianship application has been filed.
Because of the specialized subject matter involved in elder law, the mediator should be carefully selected to make sure that he or she has sufficient specialized experience in settling elder law disputes, and a good reputation among his or her peers.
Because mediation is private, and because a mediator may shuttle between parties during a mediation rather than having parties face each other in the same room, the environment may be much less threatening than in a courtroom, and may be used to to find more creative solutions for resolving disputes than is possible in a courtroom.
According to Shirley Berger Whitenack, President of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and a professional elder law mediator, mediation of elder law disputes may be appropriate and successful under the following circumstances:
- The parties have or had an ongoing personal relationship and have communication problems,
- The primary barriers to settlement are personal or emotional,
- The parties want creative solutions to fit their particular needs,
- There is an incentive to settle because of the time or cost of litigation,
- The parties want a confidential forum to resolve their dispute.
Source: Shirley Whitenack, Mediation: A Possible Option for the Dispute Involving Your Client, NAELA News Jul/Aug/Sept 2015,
https://www.naela.org/Public/Library/Publications/Publications_Main/NAELA_News_Archive/NAELA_/JulAugSept2015/PracticeSuccess_Mediation.aspx?WebsiteKey=24646538-b6f0-4066-8569-164bcf663977