The prospect of the divorce process can be scary for many people. The public forum of the courtroom as well as the possibility of losing our financially and personally causes significant anxiety.
However, there are numerous ways to avoid the stress and public eye of the courtroom, as well as the prospect of losing out financially. Mediation is an important part of our work at The Siemon Law Firm, and it offers a great option for many people in divorce.
Mediation is a simple process that involves both divorcing parties meeting together to resolve the various divorce issues, including division of assets, child support and spousal support, custody, visitation and other related issues. Each spouse should bring an attorney to the sessions to protect their interests.
A mediation session is generally required before proceeding to divorce litigation, and it is highly recommended to engage the process in good faith. In general, mediation offers the opportunity for a better process and a better outcome for everyone involved.
A Better Process
For most people, mediation is a better process compared with traditional divorce litigation. The divorcing spouses have much more control over the process itself. Rather than having to adjust to a judge’s timeline, divorcing spouses can meet when its more convenient to them.
Second, there is much greater privacy in the mediation process. Strangers are not allowed to just sit in on the sessions. Mediation also protects the children from the harsh reality of seeing their parents fight it out in the courtroom.
Third, the process is often much faster, smoother and less stressful. Divorce always an element of stress and administrative challenge, but with mediation these realities are greatly reduced in most cases.
A Better Outcome
Since mediation is a much more personalized process, there is more opportunity for you to protect the things that are most important to you, rather than have these matters decided by a judge who won’t know your interests as well.
For example, you can work out a parenting plan that takes into account all of the most important issues of scheduling, holiday planning, school plans, etc. Further, mediation allows you a chance to negotiate the division of assets in a way that can protect the one or two items that matter most to you.
Mediation doesn’t work for everyone. However, the process works for most people, and when it does, it offers significant advantages over the traditional courtroom divorce process.
