MEDIATION

For many people, the choice to mediate makes more sense. If both the husband and wife believe they can resolve their issues amicably and come to agreement on child sharing, support issues and property division then mediation could prove beneficial.

A lawyer’s role in mediation is to facilitate an open discussion between the parties as to the issues of their divorce and to provide overall guidance in achieving a mutually acceptable resolution to those issues. The advantages are many. The parties can avoid court appearances and can save considerably in attorney’s fees when choosing this option.

The principal negative is when one party is non-cooperative, slow to make decisions or generally unreasonable or unwilling to compromise. The mediation then could not proceed forward. The attorney does not represent either party therefore if the mediation proves unsuccessful the parties would need to each retain separate counsel or possibly represent himself or herself in order to proceed.

An alternative approach is to proceed with your own lawyer and attempt to negotiate with the other party through settlement discussions. Your spouse has the option to retain counsel if he or she chooses. The principal advantage to this approach is that your attorney can continue to move forward in the case if your spouse becomes uncooperative or drags his or her feet.