Recently, Michelle J. Perkins completed the Maricopa County Superior Court Probate Mediation Training Program. As a result of this training, Ms. Perkins will be placed on an exclusive list of individuals to handle private mediations for Probate, Guardianship and Conservatorship matters.
Ms. Perkins’ prior mediation training combined with this recent training and her years of experience handling these types of cases make her an excellent choice for providing a fair and cost-effective mediation to resolve the parties’ dispute.
Ms. Perkins can assist litigants and their attorneys interested in mediating disputes within the Probate Court involving decedent’s estate, trusts, trust administration, conservatorships and/or guardianships and vulnerable adult/exploitation.
What does a mediator do? Probate attorney-mediators usually:
– meet with all parties and counsel in a case; – listen to each person’s concern; – help all parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their case; – when appropriate, help the parties understand each other and communicate with each other; – provide “reality checks” about the possible outcomes in court and in settlement; – work with all parties and counsel to create a settlement agreement that is acceptable to everyone.
For contested matters in Probate Court, mediation is a great way to settle disputes since the parties often are related or at least know each other. In mediation everyone has the opportunity to have their say, sometimes directly to the other party, in order to reach an agreement.
Mediations will not be appropriate for all probate disputes but in most cases mediation will allow the parties to reach agreements preferable to the decision a court would reach and which may encourage healing of strained family relationships.
