Picture in your mind a married couple legally finalizing their split. You probably have a mental image of two angry people arguing and shouting in divorce court. Little gets resolved in this scenario. The whole proceeding is emotionally charged.

Fortunately, there are much better ways to smoothly negotiate a divorce. Among them is divorce mediation. In mediation, the divorcing couple gets together with a professional who acts as the mediator. Agreements on issues like alimony, custody of the kids and property division are worked out by the couple.

Benefits of this process

The objective is amicably reaching solutions that work well for all concerned. The benefits include the following:

• The couple manages the proceeding and the results. They don't turn their decisions over to a judge.
• Mediation is completely private. What is spoken and decided isn't public. Many people appreciate that when they go through this difficult time in their lives.
• A mediator is not biased toward or against either spouse. Because the mediator is impartial, they can be of particular value to each spouse.
• Mediation is typically less time-consuming than going the litigation route and tends to be less costly, too.

The mediator's role is not to be the equivalent of a judge or to interfere. Furthermore, the mediator does not compel the couple to say yes to anything. The whole concept of mediation is to have the soon-to-be ex-spouses make arrangements about important issues themselves. The mediator can guide the conversation along by interjecting a comment here and there. That person's responsibility is mainly to be a helpful yet unobtrusive facilitator.

Is divorce mediation something you want to consider?

Divorce mediation has many positive aspects. Find out more about the divorce mediation process to see if it's right for you and your spouse.