More freedom,
less fight

It’s time to start the conversation.

The stress of a marriage separation is real and intense. Susan did an amazing job lifting the weight from my shoulders. The knowledge, experience and understanding she brought, fast tracking a financial settlement and facilitating its passage through the Family Court was truly invaluable, and at reasonable cost. I very much appreciated her work and cannot thank Bright Side enough.

NE

second marriage, about to retire

"I was terrified of getting lawyers involved, but meeting Susan wasn't what I expected at all. I really expected it to be horrible because, you know, lawyers, but I felt so positive afterwards."

DH

Married 20 years, separated five, stay-at-home mum to three

I felt so much better after talking to someone who actually offered sensible, practical options. I felt a huge relief knowing I had options that would work for me and my daughter.

RC

defacto 20 years, self employed

Susan has a wealth of knowledge and experience which made things a lot easier. I felt supported and avoided going into litigation, which was the best outcome I could hope for.

CM

single mother, teacher

Christmas Co-parenting needs a little give and take

About Us

“Steer yourself in whatever direction you choose”

We want you to take control of your future.
It's your family and your life so be part of the decisions that need to be made.

Your mediation pathway

Listen

This is where we hear your story. It’s time to tell us what’s keeping you awake at night, what you’re worried about and what you think is working OK. Tell us what you need to talk about and why the conversation is hard. We may give you some homework – some ideas of how things might work in a different way, some research into kids like yours, some thought bubbles of what has worked for other families. We want to hear about who you and your family are and we want to get you ready to make good plans for the future.

Listen again

And then we meet your ex. We listen to their story, we hear what’s hard for them and why they think things aren’t working. There’s two sides to every story and, let’s face it, if you were in sync on this stuff you wouldn’t need us. Each of these sessions are confidential – we aren’t going to tell either of you what we have talked about with your ex. But we are going to give you similar challenges; to put yourselves in the other pair of shoes, to think about what could change and to think about trying something different.

Educate

This is about getting ready for the day. We will suggest some reading to help you in the mediation room. We might suggest some extra homework – that might be legal advice, it might be getting your financials sorted out. It might be talking to your kids about any opinions they have. We will talk you through how mediation works and what you can expect on the day. We also want you to think about what you want to cover. It’s your mediation and you need to help set the agenda.

Resolve

This is where we all sit down in the same room – you, your ex and our mediator. It might take the morning, it might take all day. It will be emotional. But along with resolution, our goal is to create a safe space where you can get things off your chest and the jump the hurdles you’ve baulked at before. It’s not easy but it’s also something really worth working towards. Even sitting down and starting the discussion is progress. One way or another, by the end of the day you will be further down your path than you were yesterday.

Document

Your hard work is over – this is our part. Once you have reached agreement we write it up as a mediation agreement or parenting plan. And we get you to sign it. You may have sorted everything out, or just a couple of things but we want you to acknowledge that progress and any commitment to agree you have made. If you can agree once you can do it again – and again if you have to. There’s calm water ahead and we know you can get there.

Bright Side

What will it cost

The costs of sorting out a break up can quickly become as stressful as the relationship was. We want that to be the least of your worries.

We get that all families and relationships are different and that often requires creative problem solving but that doesn’t mean pricing has to be fancy or tricky.

We charge a flat rate and will bill each of you separately. We don’t charge by the hour, which frees us up to talk for as long as you need.

In most cases we keep property and parenting separate, but if there are only small issues we may be able to talk to you about combining them in one session.

The first step

First meeting: $495 each

This is an initial meeting we have with each of you separately, where we hear you story and talk about whether we think mediation will work for you. You don’t need to bring anything. It’s time to tell us what’s keeping you awake at night – what you’re worried about and what you think is working OK. We won’t give you any legal advice but we will talk about the mediation process and what we need from you for the best possible outcome.

We need to meet you both but we will make individual appointments with each of you. If you aren’t sure how willing your ex is to participate, after we have met with you we will contact your ex directly and invite them to come in for their own appointment.

The big day

First session: $995 each

Your first mediation session will last for up to 4 hours. Any longer and everyone’s brain goes a bit soft. It can be a tough day but we will keep the process on track and move you both in the right direction.

We will talk about how you want to split up your joint property and why. Or we will talk about how you are both going to spend time with your kids.

In most cases it works best to keep the two topics separate. Legally they are separate issues and emotionally then can be miles apart. We find it’s easier to nut out the best solution when you are completely focused on only one of these big ones at a time.

The day after

Subsequent session: $495 each

We think of this as a bit of a check-in – it runs for up to 2 hours and no, it’s very rarely the next day. If you have agreed on a property split but updated figures have thrown things a bit out of whack, or you were waiting to see what the house sold for, or you thought you could get those orders done yourself but then life got in the way – then it can help to sit down again with your mediator and finalise everything.

When you make plans around your kids it can help to give them a test run for a bit – it might be a big change for everyone and the kids take to it well . . . or maybe things aren’t going that swimmingly. A check-in lets you tweak parenting plans after a trial run of the practicalities.

If we didn’t get a chance to cover everything in your first session a subsequent session for new or additional topics will run just like a check-in.

DIY (design it yourself)

Where do we stand? $495

We are happy to customise any of the above depending on your circumstances – whether you need a bit of help or a lot. Our mediators are also trained collaborative family lawyers and we work with a network of professionals who can offer counselling, financial or legal advice. In many cases we can negotiate a fixed fee for these services and include them in an overall solution package for you.
We are happy to meet with you, or even you and your ex together to talk about a settlement strategy incorporating everything you need to start again separately. Our focus is on out-of-court solutions and setting you on a path that will help you resolve things as quickly as possible without breaking the bank.

"I was terrified of getting lawyers involved, but meeting Susan wasn't what I expected at all. I really expected it to be horrible because, you know, lawyers, but I felt so positive afterwards."

DH

Married 20 years, separated five, stay-at-home mum to three

We are

Bright Side

Susan Hewitt

DIrector/Principal

Family law thoughts

From the blog

Contact Us

Let’s Work Together

Find us
Unit 6a 103 Rokeby Rd,
Subiaco (Enter off Forrest Walk)
Talk to us
(08) 6 382 0123
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