Getting The Court Representation You Deserve

Divorce is a trying time full of difficult decisions. One option that can make the entire process easier for you and your family is to incorporate the mediation process into your divorce. Mediation involves sitting down with your soon-to-be-ex and a neutral third party in order to calmly come to an agreement about the financial and legal details of your divorce. While not the right solution for every divorce, if you opt for mediation it can have several benefits. Here are five reasons to consider divorce mediation:

Mediation is Calm and Collaborative

By its very nature, mediation is a calm and collaborative process. Mediators are very skilled in guiding divorcing couples through the mediation process in a way that allows everyone to feel respected, heard, and safe. Even if your separation has been contentious so far, you may be surprised by how civil and even cordial the mediation process will be.

Collaborating together with your spouse and mediator in order to come to a fair agreement can leave you both feeling more emotionally at peace with the divorce process than you would be if you instead battled it out in court.

Mediation Can Save You A Lot of Money

Mediation is designed to be efficient and quick compared to a drawn-out court divorce, which means it's typically much more affordable. Since the point of mediation is to reach an agreement and consensus that you are both happy with, there is no point in drawing things out in an adversarial way, which dramatically cuts down on the amount of hours you will be billed for. You will also not have to pay for expensive courtroom representation, expert witnesses, etc., as you would with litigation.

On average, you can expect to pay a few thousand dollars for a mediation-based divorce, compared to $30,000 or more for a contested courtroom divorce.

Mediation is Completely Private

If you are worried about private or potentially embarrassing aspects of your marriage and divorce being a part of the public record, mediation may be a great option for you. Mediation is completely confidential, and while your eventual divorce filings may be searchable records, the discussions and details that take place during the mediation proceedings will always remain private. In fact, both you and your spouse will sign confidentiality agreements when you begin the mediation process, guaranteeing privacy for you both.

Mediation Gives You Both Control

Perhaps the biggest benefit of divorce mediation is that it allows you and your spouse to control the divorce process and outcome instead of leaving everything up to a judge who doesn't have an intimate understanding of your relationship or your family's unique needs. With the help of your divorce mediator, you will come to an agreement that works for both of you, giving you both control over crucial divorce matters like child custody and division of assets and debts.

Mediation Can Prevent Future Problems

It is simply human nature to be more willing to comply with agreements that you helped come up with yourself. Since both parties have a significant say in the divorce agreement that results from mediation, it's less likely that this agreement will result in future disagreements or legal problems. With a traditional divorce on the other hand, you or your spouse may feel the judge's decisions were unfair which can lead to years of future issues and disagreements.

As you can see, mediation can be a great option for many people facing divorce. To help determine if mediation is the best fit for your unique situation, it's a good idea to consult an experienced family law attorney like Dramko  Diane Attorney At Law.