Are you considering or currently going through a Separation or Divorce?
Our Separation Support team can help you and your family during this emotional and often overwhelming time.
We help our clients gain the courage and confidence they need to get through, to
feel better educated on their options, well supported, organised, prepared and empowered.
Book a time with us now to discuss how we can help to support and guide you
in a less stressful and more affordable way xx
BOOK AN ONLINE APPOINTMENT
with our Experienced
Separation and Divorce Support Counsellor and Coach
Hello, I am Susan Crain and I have been working as a Separation and Divorce Support Counsellor and Coach for over 30 years. I have a background in law, counselling, psychology, mediation and coaching. I am a mother of three older teens/adults, a respite foster parent and pet lover. I love to dance (although not well) and live for a great beach walk and good book.
I am extremely passionate about offering much more affordable and genuinely supportive resources to people through each stage of this often difficult process - offering what my kind clients have said often feels like "a huge hug from beginning to end."
Whilst we don't discount the important role Family Lawyers may still play during a divorce, and will often help our clients engage lawyers if needed, we help our clients avoid a lot of unnecessary expense along the way and enable them to feel so much more in control of their decision making and outcomes because they are well guided, resourced and emotionally supported from the outset.
Our clients are often quite overwhelmed when they make initial contact but the transformation we witness by the end of our work together, gives me goosebumps to think about. It is so amazing. Feel free to read some of our client's lovely testimonials or social media updates.
When I am asked what is it that a Separation Support Coach and Counsellor does it is sometimes difficult to express the diverse range of help we provide our clients.
However, the most common areas of assistance would definitely be:
buy the ultimate divorce planner
If you are considering Separation, we can help you carefully plan and provide you with the support you need all the way.
Our clients describe the Planner as 'a hug throughout it all'
It will step you through the options, provide effective checklists, explain legal jargon, provide important communication strategies and tips, guidance on providing help for the children, financial negotiations and tips, strategies to remain safe and help you get back on your feet and space to add evidence and a years worth of diary entries to help you recall things more easily.
Understand your legal options during separation and divorce
Develop a separation plan to help you feel organised, educated and empowered through the process
Ensure you have a safe exit strategy and can remain safe
Learn how to communicate with your spouse and children about separating
Understand how to protect your assets and secure your finances before separating
Record all your evidence and important dates and appointments in one place
Get organised with the practical and easy to follow checklists on what to prepare, what to locate and disclose
Self care strategies and wellness tips
enrol in the ultimate divorce course
Feeling confused? Do you need help understanding what to do next?
We've Got You!
This is one of the most comprehensive, easy to follow, practical and best value for money courses available in Australia. It has been carefully written by lawyers, mediators, psychologists, wellness experts and financiers to help you all the way.
Thousands of dollars worth of expert advice presented in an empathetic, organised, easy to follow way, which you can do at your own pace.
Dealing with the emotional challenges of separation and divorce for you and the kids
How to co-parent with your former partner
Strategies for dealing with different personalities in families
Understand what it means legally to be separated and what to expect during separation
Understand your legal options to reach financial property and/or parenting arrangements and how to minimise your costs along the way
Create a comprehensive separation plan which is easy to follow and helps you feel more organised and in control
What documents do you need to locate, secure, disclose? or get from the other party?
Child and spousal support options
Guidance on legal document preparation
Budgeting and financial guidance
Prepare for mediation or trial, if required
How to deal with domestic violence concerns and safe exit planning
Counselling, coaching and communication strategies
Wellness and self care help
enrol in the Financial wellness Course
This exceptional course will help you gain a really practical and valuable understanding of banking, superannuation, budgeting, your financial position, how to keep your finances secure, how to ensure you get a fair financial settlement and financial planning for the future.
Get financial and legal expert advice and improve your long term financial position in order to better protect your future.
Brought to you by Separation Support Network &
award-winning financial adviser Helen Baker
This easy to follow, practical and comprehensive guide will help you get it all together during your Separation, Divorce and beyond.
This is also a wonderful gift suggestion for anyone looking to support a family member or friend through separation/divorce. Each planner also comes with a small gift.
Thousands of dollars worth of advice for only $89.95 including postage within Australia.
What do I do next to get help?
No matter where you are in the separation or divorce stage, we understand how hard it is, and we are here to support you. You are not alone.
We help reduce the stress by providing you with the education and practical guidance you need to understand all the options available to you.
We also carefully listen to you on what you want to do, to move forward. If you would like to arrange an online 30-minute complimentary mini session we can discuss where you are at and what help you feel you need, at your stage in the process. This just requires a Zoom connection.
We will be honest about what we can do to assist you to get the best outcome, and give you a firm understanding of the costs associated with the help. It will not be a sales pitch from us.
If you decide to proceed with Separation Support Network, you are welcome to book a PAID one-on-one confidential consultation with one of our highly trained senior separation support personnel. The first appointment will require a new client form to be completed and returned, to help us gain a better understanding of your position and to not waste your precious time.
As seen in our testimonials, we are renowned for having excellent relationships with our clients and are very conscious of providing quality, affordable services, all the way.
We take great pride in ensuring that every one of our service providers have your best interests at heart, emotionally and financially. Our motto is ‘providing our clients with a hug all the way.’
Why should I use Separation Support Network instead of going to a traditional law firm?
Separation Support Network provides one-on-one support to guide you through the entire separation and divorce process. We provide counselling support, help you navigate the immediate practical steps of your separation, listen to your unique circumstances, outline your options and recommend the services you need. We also provide help long term through your separation and divorce journey to reach your longer term goals.
We do have a panel of lawyers who can assist, if and when required, but we work with you to avoid legal costs as much as possible by helping you understand all your options, assist you to gather your documentation and evidence, draft your proposed terms, and coordinate other specialist support if required to support your position. This helps avoid a lot of the initial outlays you would normally experience in a law firm, which often charge very high legal costs, per hour, for their time. It also helps you avoid a lot of time, stress and frustration.
Once legal matters are resolved by traditional firms, our clients report they often feel a sense of confusion and concern about what comes next - on how to actually co-parent and fulfill the parenting obligations, how to deal with the financial arrangements that were agreed upon, where to obtain the necessary financial education to manage your settlement, and how to secure your financial future. There is often the need to get help to change other key legal and financial documents, strategies to assist with co-parenting and communication with former partners, sorting the sale of assets, access to counselling for the family, finding a new career or a plan on how to start the next chapter of life. Separation Support Network can walk beside you through all of this. We help you find the care you need and work collaboratively with a team who can assist.
Our aim is to ensure our clients are safe, emotionally supported all the way, personally educated and empowered to make their own decisions, and ultimately achieve a fair and equitable settlement, suitable parenting arrangement and successful future.
What range of support can you offer me?
The most common things said to us over the years by our clients:
"I am so confused about what to do next, where to get the help I need and who to trust."
"I can't work out what financial documents I even need to access and what I have to disclose ."
"I worked all my life to save and secure my superannuation and now we are going to destroy it with all the ongoing legal bills."
"I was a good parent and we had a great relationship but now I just can't reconnect with them."
We hear you!
Separation Support Network is essentially a one stop service network where you no longer need to spend countless hours finding the resources, locating kind and supportive care, legal and financial expertise, all at an affordable rate.
We work alongside incredibly experienced, supportive specialists who share our values in making the separation and divorce process more amicable, more empowering, more supportive and more affordable.
Mediators
Psychologists and counsellors
Parent assist programmes
Empower programmes
Lawyers
Domestic Violence support
Financial Planners and Advisors
Property Valuers including farming valuers
Banking advice
Business and Company valuers
Forensic Accounting and IT
Private Investigators
Accountants
Mortgage Brokers
Business brokers
Conveyancing and Will and Estate Planning support
Life Coaches
High Conflict Coaches
Career assist - resumes, job applications and interview preparation.
Empower You programmes
Our clients have also reached out and requested that we prepare practical and affordable resources including audio/visual podcasts and webinars which consist of easy to understand, questions and answers to many of the day-to-day issues that they experience, but don’t know how to do. These can be booked and listened to at any time, anywhere by our clients. A transcript is also provided for our paid webinars.
In late 2024, Separation Support Network will release a series of highly practical webinars for all our clients at a very affordable price which can be viewed any time, anywhere as part of our new Separation and Divorce course.
These webinars are not just made up of general information about topics. They are step by step practical guides on how to get through this challenging process to ensure your safety and legal rights.
We have interviewed some of the leading experts on these most sought after topics and hope that you find the content understandable, relatable and invaluable. Please feel free to reach out anytime to suggest additional topics you would like us to add to our webinar library or to add to our course.
What is your cancellation and refund policy?
Given the nature of our support services, last minute cancellations are costly, and it means that other clients may miss out on receiving the required support. For cancellations within 48 hours of the scheduled appointment there is a $65 part fee payment. For less than 24 hours cancellation notice or a non-show, the full session fee will need to be charged. These fees are refunded however if the session can be filled at the last minute. Thank you for your understanding.
Have a question that we haven’t answered? Or just want to chat please book here
Mediation Guide
Separation and divorce can be difficult, stressful, emotional and expensive.
Even if you and your former partner are relatively amicable, you may still need assistance to work out how to disentangle and split your finances and property in a fair way and to determine what will work best for your children and your family going forward.
The Family Court expects that people involved in family law disputes will only make an application to the Court to have their matter heard when there is no other way possible to resolve their dispute. There is an expectation in other words that people will attempt to resolve their differences and find a way to settle through compromise, discussion and if required, dispute resolution, if it is safe to do so.
Mediation and Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) can help you work through your parenting and financial agreements, resolve dispute and find solutions that provide the best outcome for all parties involved. It can provide an affordable, less stressful and faster method for resolving disputes while still allowing you to have significant input into the process and the outcomes. When a matter goes to court, you lose a lot of this input and control around outcomes.
Below is an overview of the mediation process and some hints we commonly provide our client on how to best navigate the process.
When compared to the high levels of stress and onerous and unpredictable costs of litigation, mediation is a relatively simple and expensive way to resolve disputes, sort out the division of assets and liabiliteis and create a co-parenting plan that is in the best interests ultimately of the children, and workable for the parents.
In Australia, both government-funded and private centres offer a variety of options for mediation, depending on your individual circumstances.
The role of an independent mediator is to guide you to a resolution usually through a combination of joint and individual sessions. A mediator's role is to stay neutral and not 'take sides.' They make sure each party understandsthe issues at hand, is aware of each other's position, and will help find a fair and workable solution that is acceptable.
While the sessions can be held just with the separating couple and the mediator, under certain circumstances, if both parties agree, the parties lawyers, and/or a support person may attend. Children may under very limited circumstances be involved.
Some mediations may be held face to face, in person, or via zoom, or in certain circumstances, including where there has been domestic and family violence, 'shuttle mediation' can be used to keep the parties separate and in a safe space.
Communication in the course of dispute resolution are, except in certain circumstances, confidential and inadmissible in any court. The dispute resolution practitioner however may be required by law to report certain disclosures or risk.
What is Family Dispute Resolution (FDR)?
FDR is a special type of medication that is focussed on considering the needs of the children while hehlping you come to an agreement. It is often used to resolve parenting matters but property division can also be included in FDR.
It provides you with an opportunity to improve your relationship with the other party/ies and reach an agreement about legal, practical and co-parenting issues that are important to you. Because all parties are involved in reaching a resoution, it is chance to be heard properly in a more controlled and less overwhelming way compared to court, and improves usually the chances that the agreement will last into the future and reduce conflict for you and your children. You may also learn more effective ways to communicate with the other party througout the process to help you resolve any future issues/disputes.
Under the Australian Family Law system, with limited exceptions, it is compulsory for separated parents to go through the proess of FDR before applying to a Family Law Court for parenting orders.
Dispute Resolution may happen within the Court, with officers of the Court, such as a judicial registrar and court appointed child expert. The Court will make orders for these events and it is essential that you attend.
Dispute resolution may also take place externally to the Court. You can source Mediation and Family Dispute Resolution privately or through government funded services such as Legal Aid, Relationships Australia and other Family Relationship Centres.
If you are looking to source a private Mediator or FDRP, we can recommend one of our regularly appointed mediators to assist.
You should ensure that any person you engage to assist with FDR is registered as a Famiy DIspute Resolution Practitioner (FDPR) with the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, or if conducting arbitration, is accredited with AIFLAM, the Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators.
Judicial Registrars and private mediators or FRDPs must provide a Certificate of Dispute Resolution at the conclusion of these events. There can be cost consequences for non-compliance with court orders for dispute resoluton.
What does Mediation and/or FDR cost?
Mediation has varying costs and can take anything from hours to days to complete, depending on the complexity of your situation and depending on whether financial and children issues are being considered.
Government-assisted FDR may be free or subsidised if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Fees are payable to mediators and dispute resolution practitioners in private practice.
If you have been ordered to undertake a post-separation parenting program, unless the order otherwise states, you will be required to pay for the costs of your attendance at that program.
In most cases, mediation or FDR is going to be much cheaper and faster, and a lot less stressful than battling it out in court.
Our Top Tips to Prepare for Mediation
Learn about the options available to you and what is best suited to your needs and budget.
Your FDR practitioner, lawyer or mediator will advise what documents you will be required to produce prior to, and on the day of, the mediation.
Prior to the mediation date, a complete understanding of your finances including assets, liabilities/debt, income, superannuation, parenting, child support, and other legal matters will greatly help the process. Get your documents well organised and labelled. We can assist you to prepare this list and the organisation.
When a court orders you to attend dispute resolution, orders will also be made about what documents are required to be completed exhanged and provided to the person conducting the dispute resolution. These may include for instance, any court documents such as applications, responses and affidavits, expert reports, any child impact report, confidential case summaries, and valuations.
Think about all the issues that you may want to consider including your parenting arrangements, financial and property matters before the mediation and consider what is important to you and why and what you hope to achive through mediation or FDR.
Try to keep an open mind and consider what is really motivating your priorities - is it emotionally based reasoning or is it based on what you genuinely believe is fair and in the children's best interests.
Be aware of the various costs involved in the types of mediation and FDR options available before you commit - mediator costs, lawyer costs, travel expenses, your time off work etc. Make phone calls to find out what costs are anticipated on an hourly/daily basis and any potential post mediation expense for example the costs of formalising your agreed terms of the mediation into a formal agreement which you may want to file in the Family Court to make enforceable.
Make sure you are actually available for the set mediation date and not running late. If there is any chance you will miss the date or the time, let the mediator and other party know well in advance to avoid financial consequences.
We know this can be very difficult to do, we hear you! This can be a highly emotional and confronting time which can make you feel overwhelmed and vulnerable. If is often a time in the separation/divorce process when we highly recommend that our clients reach out for additional emotional support and invest in their own self-care.
I know your head may be racing, but try to get a good nights sleep the night before mediation. We highly recommend you do not drink too much caffeine or consume other stimulants on the day or drink any alcohol throughout the day, you eat well so your sugar levels are ok, stay hydrated, take your medication as and when needed, make plans for the children after school as the mediation may go all day. You may plan to take a friend/support person if you have previously obtained the other sides consent to do this.
Ask for short breaks throughout the day to clear your head, visit the bathroom, calm down.
If you need an interpreter for the mediation, please make sure you let them know well in advance of the mediation day.
Be Aware of your Communication
Mediation is not the right opportunity or time to express your frustration, play games, be aggressive or point score.
If you can get your emotions in check and communicate effectively enough to convey your wishes, it can be an excellent way to resolve things and to help you and your children move on.
Try to stay focused on your objectives and achieving good outcomes for the children and yourself for the long term.
We always suggest to our clients that they should try to approach the mediation as a business meeting and to be as professional in their communication as possible throughout the mediation process - imagine they are talking and planning a meeting at work, asking for a pay rise with their employer or negotiating the purchase of a house. Poor behaviour such as shouting, swearing, accusing and blaming will likely derail the whole process, and make it difficult to arrive at any resolutions. Ignore the other parties potential outbursts as much as possible - don't bite! The mediator will usually help with this, so be guided by them (and your lawyer if you have one there with you.)
If you don't understand something that is explained to you, speak up and get clarification. You have the right to be heard and to ask. No question is too stupid. Don't let yourself be bullied.
If you feel unsafe, make sure you communicate this with the mediator in your initial intake consultation and provide them with any safety orders you may have.
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DISCLAIMER: The material contained on this website is for general educational and information purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, medical or psychological advice or care. While every care has been taken in the information provided, no legal responsibility or liability is accepted, warranted or implied by the authors or Separation Support Network and any liability is hereby expressly disclaimed. For specific advice please contact us at [email protected]. All information contained on the website remains the intellectual property of Separation Support Network and is for your personal educational use only. The information must not be reproduced or distributed without the express permission of Separation Support Network.
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