Mediation is an Emerging Field of Law in South Florida

When a family is being divided over finances and decisions to be made for the care of an elder parent, instead of lawyering up and heading to court, Mediation is a way for each family member – parent and adult son or daughter to come away with a positive. It is much cheaper than the usual legal route and can often prevent the truly expensive and unsettling prospect of Probate.  When each member of the family can feel that they came away with a “win” the family has a much better chance of staying together rather than splitting over emotional slights or material things. It also gives tremendous peace of mind to the aging parent to know that their children and family will remain intact.

Legends 100.3 Radio in Palm Beach presents Elder Care Mediation to Their Listeners

For their Sunday Community Service Hour, Mike McGann of Legends 100.3 hosted Tina Scott Polsky and Susanne Hale, Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediators and Linda LeMonte, founder of Paradise Home Health Care to discuss aspects of family strife and resolution. As Linda says; “we usually get a call when there is a crisis and the family members are reacting to things rather than being proactive and having a plan in place.”  Often family members react emotionally and perpetuate past grudges or really don’t know what to do.  “They are moving in different directions and as a Mediator, I help them to focus,  on what the issue at hand is and thereby guide them to resolve the conflict on their own terms” comments Tina.  Continuing, “As a neutral party, I help the family to find other compromises and to move them forward to deal with what really needs to get done”.

What is Saved through Mediation?

Courts are looking to Mediators to help resolve family matters. It is a kinder way to facilitate communication between   parents and adult children to find the solutions to helping mom or dad as their health begins to decline. Valuable time, money, sensibilities and even the family itself can be saved this way rather than the confrontational style of the courts. Tina admits “the typical area of family conflict is about finances, and often it is actually a non-issue. If one sibling wants the parent to be in a Nursing Home but there are no funds for that level of care, then another solution or compromise is found”. Susanne adds; very often the parent he or she can be shy or reluctant to telling things to different children, they do not tell them what they truly want, Mediation helps them save face by making their wishes known in a less confrontational matter”. “Yes” Linda adds; “all families are different in the way they function, communicate and interact within the family. Elder care professionals often are able to get them moving more as a unit, at least around some specific issues”.

For more information contact: Tina or Susanne at Elder Care Mediations – 561-408-0001.