Family Mediation – Is It Right For Me?

Going to trial in your divorce case is as ugly as it sounds, but working out all of the details of your divorce with your spouse and then walking into the courthouse together to finalize your divorce as the best of friends is an unattainable ideal.  There must be some middle ground, and for most couples there is.  The chances are remote that your divorce will end up as a tabloid-worthy showdown in the courtroom, but if you try to avoid all conflict during your divorce in the interest of keeping the peace with your co-parent, you will create more problems than you solve.  Most couples are able to resolve all of their disagreements related to property division and parenting time during divorce mediation.  A Mississauga divorce lawyer can help you work out all the details of your property division settlement during divorce mediation, as well as finalizing a parenting plan if you and your spouse have minor children together.

The Benefits of Resolving Matters With Mediation

Except in instances where the court deems it unsafe for the spouses to interact directly with each other, the family courts require couples to attend divorce mediation before it will hold a trial to decide matters related to their divorce.  You might be apprehensive about attending divorce mediation, since, if it were so easy to reach an agreement with your spouse about money and parenting, you would not be getting a divorce.  With the help of your lawyer, you can get through divorce mediation and finalize your divorce with as little stress and expense as possible.  These are some of the advantages of divorce mediation:

• Working out the details of parenting time and property settlement during mediation costs less than going to trial.
• The decisions you reach during mediation will be by mutual agreement. Even though both spouses must compromise, no one wins or loses.  Neither spouse emerges from the divorce as the party that the judge ruled against.
• Mediation offers more privacy. The matters you discuss during divorce mediation do not become a matter of public record, like they would at trial.

Divorce mediation is not the time to be conflict avoidant.  If you and your spouse disagree about something, mediation is the time to discuss it.  If you cannot discuss contentious issues with your spouse without losing your temper, you and your spouse can always communicate with your lawyer.  Leaving issues unresolved during divorce mediation is a mistake.  Ambiguities and omissions in your divorce settlement will only lead to more conflict after your divorce becomes final, which, at least, will make your co-parenting relationship more stressful, and at worst, will require you to go back to court and resolve these issues later, perhaps even resulting in a trial.

Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP About Accomplishing Your Divorce Through Mediation

A family lawyer can represent you during divorce mediation, so that you can finalize your divorce without going to trial.  Contact Zagazeta Garcia LLP in Mississauga, Ontario to discuss your case.