Question: What is arbitration?
Answer: Arbitration is a process whereby the two parties to a family law dispute agree that they need a third party to resolve an issue between them but wish to note go to court and will hire a third party (usually a senior lawyer or retired judge) to decide the issue for them. The advantage of this approach is that two parties to a family law dispute can usually get to an arbitrator faster than going to court and subject to the direction by an arbitrator can tailor the evidence they will call to their specific needs. Often parties will attend with their own counsel and arbitration is often effective where there are a few discrete issues to resolve.