If you and your spouse have decided on a divorce and believe that you have the ability to cooperate with each other throughout the process, you may decide to avoid the messy, stressful courtroom process and opt instead to mediate your divorce. The mediation process is often faster, cheaper and significantly less confrontational and hostile, which makes it an attractive option for divorcing partners that are at least on speaking terms.
During the process, you sit down with a neutral third party who acts as your mediator, and collaboratively work to create a divorce agreement. This agreement will include such stipulations as how all of your property and debts will be divided, how you will arrange child custody and whether either party will pay child support or alimony (and if so, how much).
The primary benefit of mediation is that it allows you and your partner to be in full control of all of the decisions relating to your divorce, rather than passing the decisions on to a judge that doesn’t have the same detailed knowledge of your family situation. You get a chance to express your needs and your wants in front of the mediator, and you have someone with you to work out your differences and make compromises.
However, it’s important to note that both parties need to be on the same page to make the mediation work. If the relationship has a history of abuse, or if you believe that your spouse is attempting to conceal assets, mediation is not an option that you should consider.
If you are going through a divorce and have decided to use mediation, consult the knowledgeable Minnesota family lawyers at Appelhof, Pfeifer & Hart, P.A. to determine if you want an attorney to represent you in the process.
