Mediation: What You Need To Know
Divorce is a trying time for both you and your ex-spouse, and finding ways to lessen the burden that a divorce will place on your family is important to moving forward after a separation. Mediation in Texas is one way to move through the process of a divorce quickly and with less stress, with the help of an experienced Corpus Christi divorce attorney.
1. Mediation Costs Less Than Litigation
It’s common knowledge that the longer a Texas divorce drags out, the more costly it can be to both sides. However, even a litigated divorce that lasts the same amount of time as a mediated separation will still be more expensive. With mediation, you can avoid paying necessary court fees, court waiting time and excess attorney fees.
2. The Divorce Can Be Resolved Faster
A divorce in which both spouses can come to an agreement about many aspects of the separation through mediation will typically go more quickly than a litigated divorce. You can set your own time frame for how long you’d like the mediation to last, and if it goes beyond that time frame, you may be able to move into arbitration. With a litigated divorce, you often have to wait months for your court date, increasing the overall stress that a dissolution of marriage causes.
3. Mediation Protects Your Children From Contention
Mediation is one of the easiest ways to protect your children from the conflict of divorce. It allows for a smooth separation without ever having to argue with each other in a court of law. Your children will not need to be interviewed or evaluated, and older children will not be asked to appear in court.
4. You Can Maintain Better Confidentiality
Many aspects of a litigated divorce become public knowledge. During litigation, various aspects of your marriage and your divorce will come into light among your peers and members of your community. On the other hand, divorce mediation allows you to keep important documents confidential. The mediation takes place between you, your ex-spouse and an unbiased mediator, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of privacy during your separation.
5. You Can Maintain Control Over Aspects of the Mediation
With the help of a mediation attorney in Corpus Christi, you and your ex-spouse choose what aspects of the divorce you mediate, such as child custody, alimony, and child support. You can work with your ex-spouse and the mediator in order to create a co-parenting plan that works for you if you have children, or property division that is in the best interest of both you and your ex-spouse.
You will also have more control over when you are able to meet with your mediator, and whether or not you and your ex-spouse are able to mediate together or in separate rooms.
Overall, there are many benefits to choosing to mediate your divorce as opposed to engaging in litigation. Even the most high stakes divorces can benefit from the process of mediation. To discuss how mediation may be helpful to you and your family in a divorce, contact the Bourlon Law Firm today at (361) 289-6040.