Divorce, Go To Court or Choose Mediation

Divorce, you can go to court or you can choose mediation! Did you even know that you had the right to that choice?

Our divorce courts function under the same basic guidelines used by courts that deal with other disputes. Often, you will find these rules do not work well in solving divorce disagreements. Divorcing couples may do better working out solutions using mediation or collaborative efforts. It may be true, in some cases, using traditional divorce court may be a way to proceed.

Consider working out a solution together. If your trust and comfort level allow you and your spouse can sit down and reach agreements on how your possessions and debts will be divided, whether one of you will pay the other support, and how much, and, if you have children, how they are going to be raised. For some couples, reaching a settlement on these issues will be so easy that it can be accomplished in one meeting. For others, it makes sense to keep the stress level down by spreading the task out over several meetings.

It can be tough to use an alternative on your own, if your spouse has a history of intimidating and abusing you so that, almost as a matter of self-preservation, you have given up and "lost" almost all of the arguments that have taken place during your marriage. Attempting to negotiate on your own can be a waste of time in this situation. Your spouse is likely so used to winning all of your arguments that it's likely the only offer of settlement you'll get will be unreasonable, while your spouse refuses to negotiate meaningfully with you.

To be more protected and insure the agreements will be fair and legally enforceable consider going to mediation. Here, the two of you meet with a neutral person, called a mediator, who helps guide you through the process of reaching an agreement on possessions, debts, support, and child custody. The neutral third party may be needed to act as a barrier and make sure that neither party slips something in that may cause problems later on.  The knowledge, experience and skill of your mediator is vital to the process and solutions.

If your spouse hires an aggressive lawyer, common when your spouse is angry and wants to use the divorce as a way of obtaining revenge, you are at high risk of spending loads of expensive and comparatively unproductive time in court. 

There are some skilled mediators who can overcome this hurdle, particularly those who have had a lot of experience in the field of mediation and therefore can explain to your spouse with some authority what is likely to happen if settlement isn't possible and the case goes to a court trial.

At WHYmediate?, Find out if mediation can allow you to resolve Divorce conflicts in a positive learning environment.

WHYmediate? Mediation Services
4500 South Lakeshore Drive Suite 300 
Tempe, AZ 85282 
(480) 777-5500
http://whymediate.solutions