If you are seeking a divorce from your spouse, you do not have to litigate the matter in court. Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution that allows you to reach a divorce settlement outside of court.
Mediation offers significant advantages over traditional divorce litigation. The Chestertown Spy describes how you stand to benefit from mediating your divorce.
1. More flexibility
Mediation is a less formal process than litigation and is therefore more flexible. It allows you and your spouse to employ creativity in working out solutions to your own problems.
2. Less time and money
Litigation is a process that can take many months and possibly years. By contrast, each of your mediation sessions takes two hours, and you may need five or six of them to reach an agreement. If you only schedule one mediation session a week, you can reach an agreement within six weeks. A shorter process also means that you spend less money.
3. Less conflict
Mediation encourages you and your spouse to work together to reach a settlement that is beneficial to all involved parties, including your children if you have any. The less contentious process helps to de-escalate conflict between you and your ex-spouse rather than increasing it. This de-escalation can help set the stage for more cordial relations after the divorce when you and your ex-spouse have to co-parent your children.
Even more than divorce itself, it is ongoing conflict between parents that harms children. Therefore, divorce mediation can benefit your children as well as you and your ex-spouse.