Marriage Issues ? Solicitor or Marriage Counseling?
The first person to talk to is not a Solicitor rather a Marriage Guidance Counsellor. Both the Church and the State provide facilities for someone to talk to in relation to marital difficulties. Very often the problem is to get your Partner to meet and discuss their private matters with somebody outside the marriage. It is best to avoid relatives advice who are not trained or skilled in marriage counseling and the issues involved. It is only if no response is received from your Partner to the offer of counseling about difficulties in the marriage should other alternatives be considered.
If there is any violence or even threat of it Legal Advice should be sought immediately. No person should be put in fear of injury as part of a Relationship
Understand that Mediation works only if both parties attend and want to work out an arrangement without the need to involve in Court proceedings. If the other party will not go to any form of counselling it is likely they will refuse to go to any sort of Mediation.
It is this stage that legal advice should be sought about the way forward which may require Court orders in relation to the regulation of the marriage split up. Family Law legislation says the solicitor must advise clients of the availability of both Counseling and Mediation services are available to any couple who are in dispute. in our experience people do not involve these. The Solicitor has to provide a signed Declaration for the Court file to show they have advised on this and if necessary give details where these services can be found.
Sometimes the relationship has broken down so badly that the couple simply want to get an order to separate them Something to regulate their lives and get away from each other . An experienced solicitor in Family Law will have an overall view of the marriage and the possibilities that arise to sort out the problems which a client may be too close to or too stressed to see how matters can be sorted.
Obviously money is a problem and very often there is not enough money to go around to support two houses when the separation takes place. Again an experienced solicitor will look to see what can be done given the funds available.
A private and confidential consultation with an experienced Solicitor can very often answer questions and give directions in relation to the way forward to allow discussions between the parties themselves. It is good advice to say that the more the parties agree and discuss themselves the less third parties have to get involved in the affairs of the marriage.