The goal of divorce mediation is for you and your soon-to-be-former spouse to reach an agreement on your divorce that is beneficial not just to the two of you but, most significantly, to your children. During the process of mediation, you and your spouse will meet with an impartial third party known as the mediator. With the mediator’s assistance, the two of you will work through the issues that you need to resolve in order for the two of you to end your marriage as amicably and economically as possible. The following topics, among others, will be discussed, but this list is not exhaustive:
1. A Breakdown of the Assets and Obligations Relating to the Property
2. Parenting Time and Child Custody Arrangements
3. Child Maintenance and Support Payments
4. Retirement
5. Taxes
During the mediation process, the couple, with the assistance of the mediator, works together to come to agreements on the aforementioned topics. There are times when reaching an agreement is simple, and other times when it requires a lot of time and effort. The role of the mediator is to step in and help parties achieve an agreement when it seems impossible to do so. It is the responsibility of the mediator to ensure that all channels of communication are kept open, to generate new ideas, to ensure that the couple is grounded in reality, to educate empathy, and to aid the couple in reaching a conclusion. Buckinghamshire Family Mediation
Mediators assist the couple in maintaining their focus on the problems at hand and work to prevent them from veering off course. During the divorce mediation process, when divorcing spouses argue with one another, call each other names, and bring up unpleasant memories from the past, they have gotten off track and away from the concerns listed above.
The mediation process is both adaptable and private. It provides you and your partner with a method for resolving the disagreement between the two of you in a manner that makes it easier for you to cooperate as parents. This is of the utmost significance if you have children and will be required to maintain contact with your ex-spouse after the divorce has been finalised.
Through mediation, the couple is able to open up lines of communication with one another, which may later be put to use when they are required to address matters relating to their children. It’s possible that a failure to communicate was one of the primary factors that led to their divorce. If only for the sake of the children, mediation has the potential to assist the couple in rediscovering how to speak with one another, therefore improving the quality of their relationship after the dissolution of their marriage.
A mediator in a divorce case is objective and does not “work” for either of the parents involved. This indicates that the mediator is unable to provide guidance to either of the parties. They are obligated to maintain their impartiality under whatever circumstance.
What the mediator can do, on the other hand, is help the divorced couple come up with ideas that might potentially lead to agreements that will hold up over time. Both partners are then able to bargain with each other with complete confidence because to the open and honest exchange of information that took place. When negotiating a solution that is acceptable to both partners, it typically takes much less time because both partners are working with the same knowledge base.
Mediation is done on a voluntary basis. You, your husband, and the mediator are the only ones who can determine how long it will last beyond the point at which you decide to end it. Sessions of mediation might take place once per week, every two weeks, once per month, or at any other frequency chosen by the parties involved in the dispute. They are the ones mediating, and they will make all of the decisions during the procedure.
How long does the mediation process for a divorce take, and how much does it cost?
The duration of the mediation process is determined not only by the issues that have been resolved prior to the mediation but also by the subjects that will be discussed during the mediation. In addition, the length of time spent in mediation is dependent on whether or not you and your spouse are prepared to reach agreements that are fair for both of you and whether or not you are willing to act in a way that is in the children’s best interests. Trusted Mediators Berkshire
You and your spouse may be able to shorten the amount of time that is spent in mediation if you are able to reach agreements prior to the mediation session, or at the very least, minimise the number of viable possibilities to a select few. On the other hand, if you and your spouse are unable to talk about the divorce in any setting other than mediation, it is strongly suggested that you steer clear of it under all circumstances. When parties in a relationship attempt to resolve their differences on their own but end up arguing and “drawing lines in the sand,” this makes the mediation process more challenging and time consuming.
Mediation for a pre-decree divorce can often be finished in four to ten sessions on average. Again, the length of time it takes to complete this process is highly contingent on the degree to which the spouses going through a divorce communicate with one another, if at all, as well as their level of hostility against one another. If one of the couples is unable to move from their determined position on a divorce problem, then mediation may not be an option for them, and instead, they may be required to battle their differences in court. As soon as this takes place, all lines of communication are severed and the battle can commence.
In 2005, the typical mediation session cost $3,000 and resulted in a settlement within three months. In turn, the typical cost of litigating a matter in court was $15,000, and it took around 18 months to reach a settlement. It is important to keep in mind that the disputed cases led to increased animosity and dissatisfaction between the divorcing spouses, which typically resulted in a situation in which both parties ended up losing. After going through a contentious divorce, very few people are able to emerge feeling fulfilled. On the other side, couples who went through mediation reported feeling content with the agreements they had reached, and both individuals reported walking away from the process with the perception that they had obtained what they had desired.
Who would you rather have determine what happens with your children and assets after a divorce: you during the mediation process, or attorneys and judges during the divorce proceedings that take place in the courts? Who knows more about you, the lawyers and judges who represent you, or you yourself? Why should you care what other people, who don’t know anything about you, have to say about how you should spend the rest of your life?
Additionally, divorce cases heard in the legal system are open to the public. Anyone can attend the court hearing where the details of your divorce are being discussed. On the other side, everything said and done throughout the mediation process is kept strictly discreet and private. During the mediation process, there will be no attorneys standing between you and your husband acting as a barrier.
Mediation is about working together, making decisions that are in the best interests of your children, and centering your attention on maintaining your role as a parent for as long as possible for the sake of your children. Regrettably, the process of divorce in the court system is intended to erect that wall and restrict contact, which invariably results in a great number of issues following the divorce as well as many more hours and thousands of dollars spent in court.
