Alternatives To Going To Court To Settle A Divorce
Over the last several years, more and more couples have looked for alternative ways to settle the terms of a divorce. Litigation has been the default process for many years, forcing couples to hire individual lawyers to represent them in court and spending a lot of time and money in the process. The most popular and effective alternative to litigation is divorce mediation, which allows couples to work with a neutral mediator to settle the terms of a divorce including division of property, child custody and spousal/child support. Rather than leave these major decisions in the hands of a judge, who can only learn so much
You may be surprised to learn that the Minnesota court system encourages all couples who are beginning the divorce process to use mediation instead of litigation to settle the issues between you. The legal system is backed up with cases and simply cannot schedule in a timely manner. Mediation has been proven to be an effective and efficient way to settle the terms of a divorce including child custody, division of joint property and spousal maintenance and/or child support.
You may already know that the Minnesota court system recommends that all couples try mediation to resolve the terms of a divorce before attempting litigation. You may wonder why that is the recommendation. Mediation is less expensive and takes less time than litigation and that is certainly part of the reason. What you might not be aware of is just how successful mediation is. Mediation can be more than 85% effective in divorce cases, even when child custody is a factor. Both parties are often more satisfied with the outcome and the results are more long lasting. That is a very high success rate, especially given that many couples enter the divorce process with…
If you are planning for a divorce and considering mediation as a tool to resolve the terms of your settlement, you may have questions about the divorce mediation process. When we think of divorce, we often envision a couple on 2 different sides of a courtroom with attorneys pleading to a judge about custody and dividing your joint assets. In fact, mediation offers you an entirely different pathway when it comes to settling the terms of your divorce – one that costs less, is less stressful and that is less emotionally taxing. In addition, divorce mediation allows you to make the decisions for your family rather then a judge.
You may be surprised to learn that the Minnesota court system encourages couples who are going through a divorce to try divorce mediation before going through the traditional court system to settle. In fact, nearly all divorce cases can be settled outside of the litigation process. This includes fairly and equitably dividing joint assets, debts, and property, developing a child custody agreement (and/or a parenting agreement) and determining whether or not spousal or child support is necessary in your case. Here are some of the reasons why the court
Making the decision to get a divorce is a huge life change. This is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make, and it can have a significant impact on the lives of your entire family. For many couples, however, it is the right decision, despite the difficulty. Taking that first step can seem impossible for many different reasons. You may not know what step to take, you may not feel certain it’s the right step, or you may have so many questions that you feel paralyzed. This is all a normal response to such a major life decision. Johnson Mediation can help you take that first step when the time is right, help you define your priorities and goals and then move through the process with less stress.
