Divorce and Agreements
Working Out an Amicable Agreement v. Moving Forward in a Divorce Process
Recently, I have seen a developing trend in New Jersey with people trying to participate in mediation in order to resolve their divorce as opposed to simply filing for divorce and moving forward in the process. Mediation, and even arbitration, at this point has certain plusses and minuses. I certainly am an advocate for parties attempting to work out their differences in an amicable fashion as opposed to going through a very nasty and litigious divorce process. The problem is that often times during mediation, the parties will participate and rack up significant legal fees and end up walking out of the process without an agreement only to have to start from scratch with their own individual attorneys.
Mediation is certainly a helpful tool for certain couples with low hostility and limited issues. However, it is my opinion that you can start the divorce process immediately and still attempt to work out an uncontested and amicable settlement in the process. The reason for this is my experience with several clients who have walked into my office who have been participating in mediation for the past several months without having a complaint for divorce filed with the court. For one reason or another, the negotiation have broken down and they are forced to start the process from scratch. Had they simply filed a divorce complaint initially, and continued to work toward a mutual settlement, most likely they would be three quarters of the way through the process. Unfortunately, for them, they are strapped with significant legal fees from a mediator and are now forced to hire an attorney to start the process over with additional anger and anxiety that has accrued over the past several months during mediation.
If you have questions or concerns regarding mediation and whether or not your situation would work well, please free to contact this office for a free initial consultation.
