Common Ground Separation Services · Melbourne, Victoria
Separation does not have to become a battle.
Common Ground helps separating couples work through property, finances and parenting in a calm, structured setting, so a solicitor can formalise what you agree on, rather than fight it out for you.
A pastoral approach shaped by decades of sitting with people through conflict, held within clear professional and legal boundaries. Common Ground does not give legal advice and does not provide mediation.
What conflict actually costs
Legal fees are not the real cost of separation. Prolonged conflict is. The figures below reflect typical outcomes for couples in Australia, and why so many are looking for a different starting point.
The $21,000 figure is a national average, and it applies when a couple reaches agreement without a contested court hearing. Once a matter is contested through to court, cost per person typically rises to $50,000 to $100,000 or more. If a couple with a $600,000 asset pool spends $80,000 fighting over it, they have already given away a large share of what they were trying to divide. Facilitation will not suit every situation, but where it does, it is a far smaller price for the same outcome: an agreement a solicitor can put into effect.
How the process works
Most couples move through the full process in four to five sessions, each ninety minutes to two hours. Either person can pause or step away at any point.
Initial consultation
Both of you meet with the facilitator to understand how the process works and decide, without pressure, whether it fits your situation. Participation is voluntary from the outset.
Facilitated conversations
Across several structured sessions, you talk through property, finances, parenting and timelines in a respectful, guided environment focused on practical outcomes rather than old arguments.
Settlement summary
Once you reach agreement, the facilitator prepares a clear, plain language summary of what has been agreed. This document is not legally binding on its own.
Legal formalisation
A family law solicitor reviews the summary, advises each of you independently, and prepares the consent orders or binding agreement required to make it official.
Is this the right process for you?
Facilitation depends on both people being able to sit at the same table. It is worth being honest with yourself about where things stand before you begin.
This tends to help when
- ＋Both of you want a fair outcome, even if you disagree on what that looks like.
- ＋You can still speak to each other, even when it is difficult.
- ＋You are both willing to disclose your finances honestly.
- ＋You would rather spend your money reaching agreement than fighting about it.
This is not the right process when
- ×There is domestic violence, intimidation or coercive control.
- ×One person refuses to negotiate or disclose their finances.
- ×Either of you has already decided to pursue litigation.
- ×Your safety cannot be reasonably assured in the same room.
About the facilitator
Jim McMillan has spent forty four years in pastoral ministry, much of it sitting with individuals and families through the hardest seasons of their lives, including separation and relationship breakdown.
Common Ground grew directly out of that experience. It is a structured, professional process, not an extension of pastoral counselling, but it is shaped by decades of holding a steady, respectful space while people work through conflict.
Jim does not provide legal advice and does not represent or take the side of either person in the room. His role is to keep the conversation honest, calm and moving toward something workable, so that a solicitor can take it from there.
For lawyers, counsellors and financial advisers & accountants
Common Ground exists alongside your work, not instead of it. Clients who come through facilitation arrive at your door calmer, clearer and further along.
Family lawyers
Clients arrive with a clear settlement summary rather than an open conflict, so your time goes into legal advice and documentation rather than managing the relationship.
Counsellors and psychologists
When a client is ready to talk about practical arrangements rather than the relationship itself, Common Ground offers a structured next step you can refer them to.
Financial advisers & accountants
A clear, written settlement summary makes it far easier to plan what comes next for a client financially, once the agreement is formalised.
Fees
Facilitation runs on fixed packages rather than hourly billing, so both of you know the full cost before you begin.
A joint meeting to explain the process, answer questions and decide together whether to proceed. Paid in full in advance.
Per couple, paid in full before sessions begin.
- Four to five facilitated sessions
- Preparation work between sessions
- The final settlement summary document
Additional sessions can be arranged at extra cost if more time is needed. Once sessions have commenced, fees already paid are not refundable if facilitation does not lead to agreement.
Start with a conversation
Whether you are separating and still hoping for a fair outcome, or you are a professional wondering whether a client might benefit, get in touch. There is no obligation, and no pressure to continue past the first meeting.
Email to book a consultation