A settlement Agreement is a document in which the final outcome of parties’ agreements is laid down. They determine the content of the Settlement Agreement. The signed agreement is binding and qualifies as a contract. If one of you does not fulfill the contract, compliance can, if necessary, be enforced through the court. Sometimes the settlement is laid down in a notarial deed or a court order. In that case, compliance can directly be enforced without judicial intervention.

Agreements that are the outcome of a mediation are typically defined in a mutual agreement document (contract). In divorce cases that document is usually denominated as Divorce Agreement or convenant. The agreement covers issues such as assets, debts, property, alimony, pensions and insurances. In mediation you decide what will be laid down in the convenant. The agreement is ratified by the court as a divorce decree. Thus the convenant is directly enforceable without further judicial intervention.

When parents with minor children separate or divorce, a Parenting Plan is required under Dutch law. In the Parenting Plan, parents arrange their specific agreements concerning the children. Think of custody, residency (address of registration), visit-rights, costs of care and upbringing, medical decisions, schooling. Like the Divorce Agreement, the Parenting Plan is usually completed within the mediation, and thus determined by the parents themselves. In most cases the court integrally ratifies the Parenting Plan together with the divorce by decree. Then the Parenting Plan is directly enforceable without further judicial intervention. Of course the primary intention is that the former partners bring the Parenting Plan into practice themselves as collaborating parents, for the sake of their children.

If parties live at a great distance from each other, for example in an international mediation, or if they prefer not to meet, the mediation can take place digitally: on a computer, tablet or smartphone. In that case the mediator has contact with the parties through a secured (software)program. The communication, respective contributions and exchange of information, views and options, takes place online. This is empirically experienced as very practical by the parties concerned. Sometimes only the intake takes place online and is followed by one or more joint meetings; this is the hybrid application.

Are you having or did you have to deal with verbal or physical abuse from your partner, or is there a threatening escalation in your present situation? Within the mediation we take a look at what steps are necessary to ensure safety for everyone. In case there are children the focus is on seeing how to safeguard (continuation of) undisturbed healthy contact with their parents. For direct contact call +31 6 54 787 464

Child abuse must be prevented at all times. If it’s taking place it should be stopped immediately. Totally blocking contact between the child and the abusive parent is not always the solution. Within the mediation framework, conditions can be set up to have a safe and healthy contact with both parents. For direct contact call +31 6 54 787 464

Mediation after incest cases is about helping families create a new way to a working relationship for all stakeholders without having the past events and present coping mechanisms overshadow the future. For direct contact call +31 6 54 787 464

Children have the right to have contact with both parents. If this has been prevented by one of the parents through moving with the child to an unknown location or abroad, mediation can help. This is what I am specialized in. The purpose is to clarify for parents what the implications of the situation are and to see if arrangements can be made for restoring contact. This might be in the form of an international visitation plan. For direct contact call +31 6 54 787 464