Tips For Navigating Your Divorce
Divorce is never easy or simple. It takes an emotional and financial toll on every member of your family. If you are facing a divorce, you may feel intense anger, sadness and even grief. Thinking about how to navigate the divorce process can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. Here are some tips for how to navigate this process and minimize the pain and stress:
1. Define your priorities: It is important for you to think hard about what is most important to you
The court system has been difficult to access during the COVID-19 pandemic for obvious reasons. In addition, even if courts are open, the wait times to get in front of a judge can be extremely long. This makes it difficult for couples to move through the divorce process in an efficient and timely manner. In addition, some families do not want to risk the additional exposure that the in-person litigation process requires. Many couples are now looking to divorce mediation services as a way to complete the divorce process from the comfort of your own home.
We have all probably heard the familiar phrase “nearly ½ of all marriages end in divorce.” The truth is,however, this may no longer be the case. In fact, the divorce rate has been declining in the last several years and is currently hovering around 39-40%. There are many reasons for this trend, and over the last year, the pandemic has likely pushed these numbers down even further. Are couples staying together because they are happier? This is unlikely. Here are some of the reasons why the divorce rate is declining:
There are many different reasons why couples choose to divorce. For some, they report that their partner is not committed or is no longer interested in the relationship. For other couples, they may decide to split up because of trust issues, infidelity, high conflict, lack of communication, differences in goals or expectations, financial problems, substance abuse or even domestic violence. No matter what factors have contributed to the decision, divorce is widely known as one of the most stressful life events. Divorce mediation has been documented as the most effective way to proceed if both you and your significant other are ready to end the relationship.
These last several months have been like no other. As our country tackles the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned about such things as social distancing, mask wearing, virtual school and many of us have worked from home for the first time in our careers. We have all had to adapt to new aspects of daily life, school and work. During this time, we have also had the chance to spend more time at home with our immediate families, put less miles on our car, and just slow down a bit. For many families, this has actually been very stressful. If you and your spouse have been considering a divorce, these last several months may have solidified your decision
We are living through an extremely difficult time. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted life for everyone in the United States in many different ways, and we will all be relieved when the disease no longer poses such a threat to our health and the health of our loved ones. As stressful as things have been for so many of us, though, there have been a number of silver linings. One silver lining is that we have learned that it is possible to duplicate the quality of many interpersonal interactions in the online world. Johnson Mediation is able to offer our clients the same degree of professionalism and expertise in online mediation as in our in-person sessions.
