It goes without saying that divorces can go ugly from both sides. When things are not right, you may want to accept that you may need to have the best course of action to carry out the processes smoothly. You may also wonder if all divorce matters need a full adversarial process. Luckily, no. There is an alternative process that can help you save money and leads to more positive outcomes. This process is called mediation. Here are the reasons why you should mediate your divorce with the help of Andrew Heft family law attorney:
- You may be ordered to do it eventually
Nowadays, the Family Courts command the parties to go for mediation before they are let in to continue their case in the court. As there are so many crowded dockets, these judges fight to guarantee that only parties who genuinely belong in court end up inside. You don’t need to wait for the judge. You can save a lot of money by skipping the court appearance and go straight for mediation. Even when litigation seems mandatory, a study claims that less than 20 percent families going for divorce via mediation appear before a judge and the rest go for an adversarial process to wind up in court.
- Mediation saves a lot of money
It also helps in saving a lot of time. A study claims that in the year of 2005, an average mediated case cost around $3000 and a similar case in litigation may cost around $15000 on an average. Another study claimed that the couples claiming for divorce come to an agreement quickly when mediating and save around 2 to 3 months in time to resolution, considering the crowded court dockets you may save a lot of time. And it makes sense as well, when you consider adversarial proceeding, both parties have to pay the attorneys on the hourly basis to handle the cases and the bills can also increase as the litigation is carried out. A mediator brings forth both sides to the table and the process is managed and controlled by the parties entirely. The only party who is here enjoying the financial advantage in the divorce litigation is the attorney involved.
- Mediation is a private process
A huge distinction between mediation and litigated divorce process is the privacy. The issues that crop up in the litigated proceedings may find their ways and the proceedings occur on the public record. Along with the limited exceptions, your mediator cannot disclose any aspect during the mediation to any other party. The confidential nature of the mediation protects sensitive information as well as the privacy of the parties involved.
