Why Mediation May Be an Ideal Way to Resolve Your Divorce

On behalf of Currier & Martin PLLC posted in divorce mediation on Friday, November 3, 2017.
One recent estimate suggests that as much as 70 percent of all couples who file for divorce do so without first seeking out the guidance of a skilled attorney.

When it’s their time to go in front of a judge to hear their case, one family law judge contends that they often tell him that they just want him to render decisions that are just and fair.

Oftentimes, he ends up counseling them that decisions rendered in the courtroom by the judge are not always what the couples would see as the best choice. He notes that this is especially true when it comes to the division of assets and reaching settlements on other complex issues.

It’s often in situations like this that he recommends for couples to pursue mediation instead. One reason he does this is because he’s seen how costs begin to mount as couples battle it out in the courtroom.

He also recommends mediation because he’s aware of how the mediator takes time to highlight some of the legal implications of making certain financial, child custody and support-related decisions. He argues that couples tend to reach quicker and fairer settlements because they’re equipped with this knowledge.

One of the benefits of mediation is that an impartial party gives each partner an equal platform for expressing their concerns as well as the necessary tools for reaching compromises in terms of their differences. While parents may initially walk into mediation harboring some type of bitterness toward one another, they often walk out with an enhanced ability to communicate with one another.

This has been shown to result in less behavioral problems over time for their kids.

It’s because mediation teaches parents to communicate more effectively with one another that it’s also believed it reduces the incidence rate of parents finding themselves embroiled in conflict down the road. This ultimately saves them money they’d have to spend litigating their case in front of a judge.

Mediation is not for everyone. There are couples that have very few assets, who are childless or simply don’t get along well enough to work together on a settlement. Other roads that lead to a divorce maybe more appropriate in those situations. In learning more about your own case, a Houston divorce mediation attorney can advise you of what may be the best option for you.

Source: Fox 6 Now, “Getting a divorce? Why one family court judge advocates mediation,” Beverly Taylor, accessed Nov. 03, 2017