Divorce Mediation: Everything You Need to Know
Divorce mediation is an opportunity for couples to resolve their divorce needs outside of the courtroom. The Missouri Supreme Court defines divorce mediation as “a process in which a neutral third party facilitates communications between the parties to promote settlement.” We know that your decisions are important to you, and a mediator is someone that is willing to work with both parties involved to come up with amicable solutions that best serve everyone involved.
Family law matters such as divorce, child custody and other issues can be difficult to resolve. Everyone has their own agendas and often conflicting sets of ‘best interests’. Creating effective resolutions can often be best achieved by finding common ground rather than fighting each other. Working with someone experienced in divorce mediation can help you create the most immediate path to ensuring a resolution. So, is there a right time to utilize divorce mediation? There is certainly no wrong time. In fact, mediation can be used at any point during the divorce process. Each case is different and it’s very difficult to predict the perfect timing to use mediation for your case. But as long as a couple is willing to try mediation, an experienced mediator can usually bring parties to an agreement.
There are numerous advantages of divorce mediation. Mediation has a number of benefits over the traditional means of resolving family law issues through the courts. Some of those gains include:
- Cost and times savings
- Keeping ultimate decision-making power in your hands rather than that of a judge
- Reduced stress
- When involving children, it can help develop a pattern of cooperation that will be very beneficial as the child grows
- Protects children from excessive stress