Fair Oaks Divorce Mediation Attorney

What Do You Need To Know About Mediation?

A mediated divorce requires hiring a neutral party who acts as the unbiased facilitator of your negotiation process. In contrast, a DIY uncontested divorce involves you and your spouse filing the paperwork on your own. However, our attorney can provide the information and paperwork you need to do so. A collaborative divorce is similar to mediation but requires hiring more professionals, such as a financial advisor and child psychologist. Both parties also tend to retain independent counsel.

Here are some additional things you need to know about divorce mediation in Fair Oaks, CA:

• You and your spouse have the opportunity to create unique solutions to fit the many complexities of your finances and family situations.
• The mediator helps you keep your children at the forefront of your negotiation process.
• Mediation requires full disclosure and the mediator represents the interests of all parties involved, so each party can feel better about the fairness of the final agreement.
• You do not need to agree on everything or anything before going into mediation if you and your spouse are willing to try to change this with mutual compromises.
• You and your spouse control how quickly the mediation process goes, which also depends on your willingness to compromise.
• Mediation is not a substitute for court with a mediator instead of a judge in the middle; rather, it is a cooperative process with no adversarial intentions.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Choosing Mediation?

The benefit most people look forward to when they choose mediation is saving money. There are several very true horror stories circling the news of couples wasting thousands and even millions of dollars of marital property on litigation only to have very little left to share when the divorce is finalized. Mediation is second only to a DIY uncontested divorce in affordability.

Unlike a DIY divorce, however, you don’t need to worry about your partner taking advantage of you or you signing away your rights. This happens often in uncontested divorces because one or both parties might not fully understand their rights and privileges or what counts as marital versus separate property. Mediation, therefore, protects the rights of both parties, and the children.

People can also save time and move on their lives more quickly as there is no appeals process like there is in a contested divorce. Once you put a suitable final agreement together, the court finalizes the agreement and you can begin your new lives apart. The process also preserves a more civil union and separation, which keeps the peace for family relationships as co-parents.

The primary downside to mediation is that this option may not be available to you if your partner remains committed to filing contested. That said, you can always try to change your partner’s mind by talking up the benefits. It just might work. If not, you may find yourself in court and in need of a lawyer to fight for your rights.