Divorce: Do You Really Need Court?

You and your spouse may not have agreed on much during your marriage, but surprisingly, the one thing you do agree on is a court free divorce. Yes, you read that right: you can get divorced without ever having to step foot inside of a courtroom.

This may sound too good to be true, but it is not. Depending on whether or not you and your soon to be ex-spouse are splitting amicably, you may be able to work together to avoid the courthouse. According to DivorceNet.com, there are a few different ways this can happen:

  • Divorce Mediation
  • Collaborative Divorce
  • Arbitration/Private Judging

If you decide to proceed with Divorce Mediation, each party, along with their attorneys, will meet with a mediator. The mediator acts as an impartial middleman and helps clients and attorneys reach an agreed upon divorce settlement.

There are some cases where both parties would rather not meet with a mediator, but still want to avoid a potentially lengthy legal battle. In this situation, the parties would start the process of a collaborative divorce. This process is similar to Divorce Mediation; however, the clients and their attorneys would discuss and try to resolve issues in a series of four-way meetings.

If an agreement is not met during the collaborative divorce meetings, you may elect to proceed with Arbitration or Private Judging. Simply put, this means that you would hire a private attorney or judge to listen to arguments from both parties. The hired attorney or judge would then make decisions regarding your divorce settlement.

There are benefits if you elect to keep your divorce courtroom free. It is oftentimes much faster and less stressful than the traditional route. If privacy is a top concern, then deciding to use one of the methods mentioned previously will prove to be beneficial.

A divorce no longer has to be a difficult and drawn out process. One of the many benefits to having a court free divorce is that is less emotionally taxing on all parties involved. Additionally, you are more likely to emerge from the divorce process with an agreeable outcome that you are happy with. One of the most important reasons why the methods mentioned above are beneficial is because they help to promote a friendly and working relationship between spouses if they have children.

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