When you are going through a divorce, oftentimes child custody is the hardest thing to sort out. Parenting alone is already tricky and has its own unique challenges, and it is multitudes more challenging trying to co parent when you live in separate places and have your own unique schedule. When parents are contesting the custody of their children they are required to attend parenting classes.
Parenting is already hard enough. Add a divorce to the mix, and your job as a parent gets infinitely more difficult. For parents who have separated, you’re not only dealing with raising your child, you’re trying to figure out how to raise your child the way you want to. In any relationship, parents have different ideas about how to best raise a child, including what rules to set, how to discipline children, what hours children should keep, what activities children should participate in… the list goes on. If you and your former spouse are having a difficult time communicating, compromising, or overall doing what’s best for your child, you may need the help of a parenting consultant. At Johnson Mediation, our Chanhassen, MN parenting consultants are here to help make sure your divorce does not stop your child from flourishing.
: A divorce mediator is considered a neutral and doesn’t work for either party, but rather helps guides couples to make decisions and keep communication open. That means the mediator does not give advice to either party, but rather remains neutral. What the mediator does rather, is assist the divorcing couple in finding ideas that usually leads to agreements. That open communication of information frees both spouses to negotiate with each other in confidence.
Divorce mediation is usually the preferred route that couples take because it is the most beneficial, especially because it is more timely than court, cost effective and helps people develop successful parenting partnerships.
Many divorcing couples are concerned that mediation may not work. They are fearful that their situation may be too difficult or they may not know a lot about mediation. Although some couples are able to be fairly respectful of one another and work together in divorce mediation, this does not mean you should compare yourself to them. More than most, divorces are not this smooth. Due to things that have happened in the past, complex emotions arise and make it extremely difficult to negotiate with one another. If you are experiencing the troubles of not being able to negotiate it will be very beneficial for the two of you to go to a mediator in order to delegate.
Divorce can be extremely costly and a lot of times, that fact alone creates tension and a prolonged process. When you and your partner have came to the point in your relationship and have decided it is best to part ways, it is important to understand your options. As many people think that hiring an attorney and going into litigation is the only option, this is in fact not and is also the more costly option.
According to national statistical averages, the average cost of divorce when hiring a lawyer and going to litigation is $30,000 compared to $5000 when you choose to settle your divorce through mediation instead.
We at Johnson Mediation can help separating partners through the difficult processes involved in changing the nature of their primary relationship. We serve many people in many Minnesota communities, including couples in Chanhassen and Bloomington. Ending a relationship is never easy; when you decide to separate, mediation can be extremely helpful because mediation focuses on finding solutions, rather than a zero-sum, all-or-nothing approach that often occurs when separation occurs in the court system. Johnson Mediation works with divorcing couples, of course, but we can also help unmarried couples who have chosen to separate. And if you have children, you will want the reassurance that Johnson Mediation provides when we state that you and your family’s well-being become their top priority.
