If you are considering divorce, you may be dreading a potentially lengthy, expensive and emotionally draining legal process. You may also have deep concerns about how the court’s decisions will impact your future and the lives of your children.
However, if you and your spouse can agree to try to resolve differences constructively, mediation may offer a less costly and less stressful alternative to divorce litigation.
What is divorce mediation?
Mediation is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution in which a neutral mediator helps you and your spouse to explore and discuss the various issues involved in your divorce. Rather than make decisions, the mediator works to promote productive communication so you can find mutually acceptable solutions.
What are the potential benefits of mediation?
One of the biggest benefits of mediation is maintaining control of both the divorce process and the outcome. While you may not get everything you want, you are more likely to be happy with a settlement you have negotiated than one a judge makes for you. Other potential benefits include:
- Maintaining privacy
- Saving on legal costs
- Proceeding on your schedule
- Protecting children from emotional stress
Without the stress of a trial on the horizon, you and your spouse may also find it easier to make pragmatic decisions about the future. From creative ways to share parenting time to negotiating a fair, workable division of assets, mediation may allow you to find unique solutions to conflicts.
The mediation process is also flexible. If you find that you can only agree on certain issues, you may resolve those decisions out of court while leaving points of conflict up to a family law judge.
