MEDIATION  EPISODE 3

You have met the parents. Their issues are clear.
Now the daughter + fiancée
They are planning to become a couple so you have to meet them as a couple. At this stage you would have big problems if you meet with them separately – distrust being the biggest.
 
Is he the bad boy in the story? The money grabber? Or is there another scenario?
Remember, you may have your instincts, sometimes even a prejudice but Be Careful. No rush to judgment. Always an open mind. Things can change.
 
It transpires that the daughter, who knows nothing of her mother’s illness, feels she wants to be “free”.
There is a price, sometimes, for being an only child + you can feel cramped, dominated by parents – unfree.

At the same time the fiancée does come across as calculating. He has a money agenda. His former wife, he acknowledges, is pressing for maintenance. He is self-employed. Covid has intervened. Finances are fluctuating.
 
Now time for you to reflect. The interplay of issues + characters is taking shape + you have your hands full.
What next? More of a revelation than a negotiation. It is clear that the mother’s limited life expectancy is an issue. Can you progress the dispute without bringing this point out into the open?
See Episode 4 tomorrow but how do you see it?

THE FAMILY PROPERTY DISPUTE – EPISODE 2