Читать книгу Mediation - Alain Lempereur - Страница 65

A sister wants to keep the family home of five rooms where she was living with her parents, now deceased. Her brother wants to sell the house to collect half the purchase price that he inherits. Mediation reveals the following:

 For the sister, the emotional need to conserve the family home and the practical need to find accommodation

 For the brother, the need to finance the acquisition of a small apartment in the same town to house his two kids, who are attending university

From there, the mediator brings the parties to imagine solutions not formerly envisioned. The property will not be divided. The sister will let her nephews, the students, occupy half of the house. She will keep the family home, while her brother will not incur any expenditure to house his kids in town. At the end of the children's studies, the sister will pay a rent to her brother or progressively buy his part of the house.

Because the solutions are elaborated by the parties themselves and respond better to their multiple needs, as well as those of others, they are not only well accepted but also more easily implemented. Naturally, for solutions to be acceptable they also need to appear equitable – fair – to both parties in the unique context of each situation. This important principle of fairness is analyzed in Chapter 3.