I Need A Mediator for my Divorce In Minnesota
If you have made the important but difficult decision to divorce and have decided to pursue mediation to settle the terms, you may be left wondering how to choose the best mediator for your situation. All divorces are different, and you and your soon to be ex-spouse have to make some VERY important decisions. A couple of examples would include, how to fairly separate your joint assets and property, developing a parenting plan that puts your children first and determining whether child or spousal support is needed. Here are some things to look for when…
Litigation is widely known as the traditional divorce process. In fact, many people assume that once you decide to divorce your spouse, you will need to go through the court system in order to settle the terms of your divorce. Fortunately, this is actually not the case. Minnesota courts actually strongly recommend that all couples try a form of an alternative dispute resolution INSTEAD of the traditional divorce process because of long scheduling delays, unnecessary legal expenses and the courts just not being able to keep up with all of the cases.
The first question that we get asked by many of our clients is whether Minnesota requires couples to go through the court system to settle the terms of a divorce. The answer is a definitive no. In fact, the Minnesota courts and judges actually encourage couples to try mediation before proceeding through the court litigation process. Divorce mediation has distict advantages of a tradional court divorce. Other states have started to follow the Minnesota couts lead by recommending and in some cases require couples try divorcde mediation first.
Mediation is an ideal tool to resolve the terms of your divorce and allow your family to move forward in the most positive and healthy way possible. Mediation has many benefits over litigation including a significantly lower cost, less time required, faster outcome and a better chance for long term success. Mediation empowers both parties to negotiate from equal positions, find common ground and illustrate to the children that compromise is possible. Mediation works well even for divorces with high conflict and the court system also encourages all couples to try it before going through the court system.
Divorce may not be something you have spent time planning (or hoping) for, and when you and your spouse decide that your marriage cannot survive, you may feel overwhelmed with emotion and with all of the things that must be done. The emotional and logistical aspects of a divorce can leave you unsure how to move forward. The staff at Johnson Mediation understands how difficult a divorce can be for you and your family. We have developed a divorce planning checklist to give you some guidance about how to take those first steps right away and how to stay on track so that you can move forward with your life.
No one enters a marriage hoping that the outcome will be divorce. Of course, our hopes and dreams for our marriage are quite the opposite. And, if you find yourself in that spot and you need to move ahead with a divorce, it can be extremely stressful, complicated and overwhelming. The team at Johnson Mediation understands the process well and can help you with each and every step of your divorce, so that you can focus on healing and moving forward and not get so bogged down in the process.
