If you fell terminally ill in five years, would you consider a year or more litigating your divorce time well spent?
Mediation has gained in popularity for several aspects of family law, including divorce. It can bring several benefits, including financial ones. The job of a mediator is to help you and your spouse resolve the legal issues in your divorce, such as child custody and property division. The mediator is impartial, so you can each have your separate legal advisors as well. If you can reach an agreement, you both sign it and present it to a judge. If you cannot, then the option of litigation remains available.
Divorce mediation costs less than litigation
There are several ways to consider the cost of divorce:
- The financial cost: Litigation can take a long time when you and your spouse have different opinions about the outcome. Mediation tends to be quicker because to use it, you must accept you will need to compromise. As a result, you spend less money on representation. Time spent in court is also time you cannot be working to earn money.
- The human cost: Divorcing couples can do each other immense emotional harm in litigation. To prove you should get something, you need to prove the other person should not. It becomes tempting to dig up all sorts of hurtful information to do this. For instance, “I deserve more time with the kids because you once got drunk when I was away and forgot to send them to school the next day.”
Mediation means accepting the marriage is over and finding a way to move on rather than dwelling on the past. Focusing on the future helps you get there quicker.