Going through a divorce is never easy. It can create both emotional and financial strains on you and your family. If you have young children, the process can become even more complicated. Fortunately, you can reduce the time, cost, stress and acrimony associated with this process if you opt for divorce mediation.
Divorce mediation is an alternative to a traditional litigated divorce that allows you to maintain greater control over the process. Instead of an adversarial dynamic where you and your spouse battle in court over the issues in dispute, the two of you will sit down at the negotiating table with a neutral third party mediator in order to settle these issues in a more amicable manner.
You have the ability to address all of the issues of your divorce through mediation. An experienced attorney-mediator can guide you through the mediation process in a manner that ensures the resulting agreement will reflect all applicable state laws.
Choosing divorce mediation offers you the following benefits:
- Reduces the level of acrimony and emotional stress that typically occurs during a divorce
- Eliminates court costs and minimizes legal fees, providing you with a more affordable resolution to your divorce
- Reduces the time necessary to finalize your divorce agreement
- Helps you and your spouse maintain greater control over the divorce process
- Facilitates the creation of more child-centered parenting agreements that help your children adjust to post-divorce life more easily
- Fosters a collaborative environment that encourages more creative solutions to the issues that need to be resolved
- Maintains greater confidentiality and prevents your divorce from entering the public record
- Promotes more productive communication between you and your spouse, which builds a strong foundation for handling parenting issues down the road
- Usually results in a fairer divorce agreement that reflects the best interests of all parties involved
Should I Choose Divorce Mediation?
It’s important to understand that divorce mediation isn’t right for everyone. This process is an ideal option for couples who have the willingness and ability to work together to arrive at an amicable resolution to the issues in dispute. You don’t have to agree on every issue up-front. As long as you and your spouse are able to work together collaboratively, you should be able to achieve a successful outcome through divorce mediation.
In general, you may want to consider divorce mediation if:
- You would like to make the transition to post-divorce life as easy as possible on your children
- You would like to move onto the next phase of your life as quickly as possible
- You prefer to avoid conflict and have the ability to negotiate amicably with your spouse
- You would like to avoid incurring the hefty costs and fees associated with protracted divorce litigation
- You would like to avoid having the key issues decided upon by a judge who is unfamiliar with the needs of you and your family
- You and your spouse have a mutual desire to maintain a positive relationship after the divorce
- You feel comfortable advocating for yourself
On the other hand, there are certain situations where your best option may be to move forward with a traditional litigated divorce. Mediation may not be right for you if:
- You and your spouse have a volatile, acrimonious relationship
- There are significant trust issues between you and your spouse
- You and your spouse are far apart on many of the important issues and there is relatively little willingness to compromise
- One spouse battles drug or alcohol addiction
- There is a history of abuse or domestic violence in your relationship
If you live in the Denver area, you can learn more about your options and find out whether divorce mediation is right for you by speaking with one of the attorney-mediators at Split Simple. Please call (855) 665-9920 today to schedule your free consultation.
