No fault divorce came into law on 6 April 2022 by The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. Petitions used to have allege fault as part of the application, using the headings of adultery or unreasonable behaviour, (separation periods were often too long to use) although the reason for seeking divorce has always been that the marriage had irretrievably broken down.
Mediation has always been about no fault. People jump to blaming each other but that is translated into the language of their emotions, interests and needs. Its not about who is right and who is wrong, the truth or who is lying, but about the different perspectives each person holds and seeing such perspectives from a new one. Comprehending where another person is coming from by listening and watching how they speak and behave is an essential step in the process of mediation and it also applies to oneself. The process helps everyone to see and understand not only the other but also themselves in the context of the dispute and this opening up of how we view what is going on leads to the creation of new ideas of how to come out of the wrangle with grace as well as allowing the other to also end the arguments with grace.
Whatever your dispute, you have to try it, in order to experience how life enhancing dealing with a dispute through mediation can be. Mediation is not a negotiation skill. Its about actually reaching the core of the dispute and the centre of where all the possible outcomes arise. The dispute is solved in a practical, sensible, doable and healthy way that the participants choose for themselves in a process of changing “fault” into a broad comprehension that facilitates settlement.