The Family Mediation Blog
MCFM President's Message - 2020
Wednesday, June 24, 2020Transcript of Audio:
Hi, I'm Justin Kelsey. My firm is Skylark Law & Mediation. My pronouns are he and him, and I'm the newly elected president of the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation and these are my brief thoughts on my hope for this organization. This is my President's message
During my predecessor, Vicki Shemin's presidency, we updated our mission. Our mission is:
Advancing Mediation to transform the way families resolve conflict.
It's powerful! It's not just about mediating divorce even though that's a lot of what we all do. Looking to transform the way families resolve conflict requires us to look beyond just our private practices, beyond what we do in our offices and in our branding and in our mediation room.
Transforming the way families resolve conflict...
Mediators Needed in this Time which Tries Our Souls
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Mediators Needed in this Time which Tries Our Souls
Mediator as Moral Witness – A Case Study
Tuesday, May 5, 2020Mediator as Moral Witness – A Case Study
A few months ago, I gave a talk on the subject of "Mediator as Moral Witness" to a group of mediators, and received a call the next day. One of the mediators who attended the talk had used the approach I recommended, and it worked!! Here’s a description of the mediation (with identifying
information disguised to protect privacy and the confidentiality of the process).
In the Worcester District Court, a mediator met with Sheldon and Rick, two former friends,one now suing the other. They had been friends for at least thirty years – they played poker together each week, and lived in the same neighborhood until two years ago, when Rick moved to Los Angeles. “I was sick of the New England winters,”...
‘Marriage Story’: A Valentine to Lawyers
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Actresses Laura Dern (left) and Scarlett Johansson
from the film 'Marriage Story
"Marriage Story": A Valentine to Lawyers
by Vicki L. Shemin, J.D., LICSW, ACSW
Coming full circle, writer-director Noah Baumbach scores again in plumbing matters of the heart.
Baumbach’s 2010 film “Greenberg” gave us the foretelling relational pretext, subtext and context in the unforgettable line, “Hurt people hurt people.”
“The Squid and the Whale” in 2005 unfolded the story of his parents’ divorce through the children’s perspective.
Now, in “Marriage Story,” we are bearing witness to Baumbach’...
Remote Mediation: A Viable Alternative During the COVID-19 Crisis
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Remote Mediation: a Viable Alternative During the COVID-19 Crisis
by Justin L. Kelsey, Vice President of MCFM
If you have a court hearing scheduled in the next few weeks, most likely you've been told it's postponed. While some hearings will be scheduled telephonically and by video conference, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely causing significant delays in obtaining a hearing and an order or judgment. This is understandable as the court and the bar figure out how to adjust to this crisis. (For updates on the Massachusetts court's...
First Things First: The No-Nup Prenup
Monday, September 16, 2019
First Things First: The No-Nup Prenup
by Vicki L. Shemin, J.D., LICSW, ACSW
Remember the good ol’ days when two people met, fell in love, and got married? Nowadays, not so fast. Increasingly, couples are rehearsing the relationship before deciding whether to plan a rehearsal dinner. As marriage rates have fallen, the number of cohabiting relationships has continued to climb sharply.
As reported by the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans living with an unmarried partner reached about 18 million in 2016, up 900% over the last 50 years. To put a finer point on it, that equates to some 7.8 million couples living together without putting a ring on it - - 85% of whom will break-up by the end of 10 years. Equally compelling is the...
Twenty MCFM Members Presenting at a National Mediation Conference in Boston - Nov 7-9, 2019
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
MCFM is excited to announce its partnership with 2 national organizations, APFM (Academy of Professional Family Mediators) and ADFP (Association of Divorce Financial Planners), to present a BLOCKBUSTER conference in Boston, November 7-9, 2019.
Numerous MCFM members will be presenting. Be sure to check out these workshops and help us spread the word:
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: What Makes People Tick: A Divorce Professional's Guide to Our Multiple Parts
David Hoffman (MCFM Member)
Friday, Nov. 8...
5 Reasons to Mediate Probate or Estate Situations
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
5 Reasons to Mediate Probate or Estate Situations
Co-Parenting for Dummies… and Smarties, too! A Guide to Co-Parent Communications
Monday, January 7, 2019
Co-Parenting for Dummies… and Smarties, too!
A GUIDE TO CO-PARENT COMMUNICATIONS
While it isn’t rocket science, it can be surprisingly difficult to communicate with the person you used to be married to. Old habits die hard and if you and s/he had a hard time listening to, not criticizing, or understanding each other before, chances are good that after divorce communications will also be a challenge. Add to this the residual feelings you might have about your marriage and what went wrong, coupled with the intensity of dealing with child related issues through and after divorce, managing all of the scheduling back and forth….well, you get the point----it just isn’t easy!!
As a family and...
The Alimony Reform Act: Lessons Learned in the Last Six Years
Friday, December 7, 2018
The Alimony Reform Act: Lessons Learned in the Last Six YearsPages
MCFM Journal & Family Mediation Quarterly
