When you are facing divorce, you have many decisions to make. One of those decisions is how you will handle your divorce. Will you go to court and let a judge rule on a settlement? Will you go to mediation? Will you hire an attorney?
Part of what goes into making this decision about how to proceed has to do with the amount of conflict you and your spouse are experiencing and what your relationship looks like. If your marriage involved domestic violence, or if you and your spouse are completely at odds about what you want out of divorce and neither of you is willing to budge even a little bit about your opposite goals, then you may need a judge to make the final determination. However, if you and your spouse can be reasonably agreeable (even if you fight a lot or do not like each other!), then you can work together to keep your divorce out of court.
There are many advantages to keeping your divorce out of court and avoiding litigation. Here are a few you should know about!
1 – Keeping Your Divorce Out of Court Saves Time
Litigation is incredibly time-consuming. Your attorneys have to take time to prepare for court, which means that they have to follow procedural rules like filing petitions, motions, discovery requests, etc. and also gather evidence, review documents, interview witnesses, etc. These things take time – weeks, sometimes months, sometimes over a year!
Litigation also necessitates having to coordinate schedules between attorneys, clients, and the court, which is not an easy task. Because submitting your divorce to the court means that your divorce will move at the speed of the court, you’re subject to the court’s timing, which may be slow! If they have a backlog of cases, you could experience delays.
When you choose to work with your spouse and a third-party mediator, or you and your spouse choose to negotiate through your attorneys, instead of going to court, you have way more control over the timing of your divorce. Instead of moving at the speed of the court, it moves at the speed of your cooperation. And when you have professionals on your side who can help you cooperate more effectively, you’re potentially looking at a few weeks to a few months instead of several months to several years.
Time is money, but it’s also peace of mind. You only have one life, and no one knows how much time they have to live it! When you are able to resolve your divorce faster (and thus, with less fighting), you can move on more quickly to the next phase of your life without feeling like all of the negativity and paperwork and procedures are holding you back from a fresh start, from living your life the way you want to live it.
2 – Keeping Your Divorce Out of Court Saves Money
If you avoid litigation, you avoid the majority of the court fees and costs you would otherwise have to pay. This includes expert witness fees, discovery and deposition costs, court appearances and hearings, and prolonged attorney involvement.
Now, there are some costs that you will have to pay even if you choose mediation or attorney negotiation – for example, the filing fee, or the cost of meditation, or the cost of an attorney to represent you until your divorce is finalized (attorneys can represent you in mediation, but that is much less expensive than paying an attorney to represent you at trial).
Divorce is not free, but it does not have to cost tens of thousands of dollars (the average being around $11,000) if you and your spouse can keep your divorce out of court.
3 – Keeping Your Divorce Out of Court Saves Stress
Going to court to resolve your divorce is inherently adversarial – it pits you and your spouse against each other, and there is conflict. It’s you vs. them; there will be a “winner” and a “loser”. Everything is public information, because you are battling it out in court. You may have to testify in front of a judge. The outcome of the divorce is up to the judge, and dependent on your attorney’s ability to effectively lay out a strong case for your interests and persuade the judge that you deserve a favorable ruling. That’s stressful, especially when there are things at stake like your time with your children, or who gets the house.
When you and your spouse work together in mediation or with the help of attorneys outside of court, you don’t have to appear in court, and the goal is an agreement that makes sense for your family and your future rather than beating the other person. The pressure is off to win, and that can change your entire divorce experience into a much more positive one.
4 – Keeping Your Divorce Out of Court Gives You More Say
Again, perhaps the biggest disadvantage of going to court is that you have to abide by the judge’s final ruling, which may not be in your favor. The judge has only known you for the length of time that your case has been on their docket, and to them, you are a case – one of many they may have at the time. They do not know you personally. They do not know your family history. They do not understand your family’s unique dynamics, and they do not take any of that (other than what’s on paper or what your attorney presents to them) into account. You do not have control over the outcome of your divorce. All you have control over is the quality of representation you choose!
However, when you use mediation or other non-adversarial methods to resolve your divorce, you do heavily influence the outcome, because you work cooperatively with your spouse to figure out the details of your divorce agreement. Because you and your spouse know your lives, your children, and your finances the best, we at Divorce & Mediation Law Firm | Cabanas Law Firm believe that you are in the best position to make decisions about your future.
Need Legal Guidance? Our South Florida Divorce Attorneys Are Also Certified Mediators – We Can Help You!
At Divorce & Mediation Law Firm | Cabanas Law Firm, we understand the many advantages to keeping your divorce out of court, which is why we settle where we can, and fight when we must! We are not afraid of going to court. Sometimes, it is the best decision, and sometimes it is the only option! However, we also know that divorce does not have to be toxic. We believe there is a happy life waiting for you, and we want to help you get there as smoothly, painlessly, peacefully, and cost-effectively as possible. Our bilingual attorneys will get to know you and your situation so we can help lead you on a journey to your happily ever after.
Call 954-447-2580 today to request your Free 15-Minute Case Evaluation and discuss your next steps.
