Can Divorce Mediation solve your litigation log jam?
Divorce Mediation in Pennsylvania can be a useful tool even if you and your spouse have already hired your own lawyers and are in full litigation mode. There’s no rule to prevent you and your spouse – together – from taking a step back, reassess, and sit down at the mediation table to work out details creating a log jam in your divorce.
The key word above is “together.” Are you and your spouse on good enough speaking terms that a mediated conversation would be useful? If your answer is “Yes,” taking a mediation break from court could be a solution.
Property distribution and custody wrangling are frequent logs jamming the river toward a Divorce Decree. These are two areas that lend themselves well to the mediation table. Pennsylvania state law provides many corollaries and required points to consider in determining solutions in court. The assumption is that most families fall into the general guidelines that undergird the laws.
What if your family is different? What if you have unusual considerations regarding property, family businesses, special needs children or other dependents? Or maybe you are just tired of the acrimony and want a more humane way to solve your legal issues. You may need to forge – together – a solution that builds a bridge to the future for each of you.
Divorce mediation can help you cut through the court dates and heated rhetoric to arrive at a Settlement Agreement and Custody Stipulation, which I create for you at the end of your mediation process. At that point, you can go right back to your previous attorneys to review and discuss what you have and weigh your options. If you sign the agreement, your lawyer will ask the court to incorporate it into your divorce decree for enforcement purposes and file the Custody Stipulation for you.
To be realistic, a mediation “break” from litigation will not work for every couple. Sometimes emotions are too stirred for reasonable discussion, or egos can’t be tamed enough to see the long term advantages – and savings in legal fees – that mediation can provide. If one spouse dominates the other, litigation is likely the best approach.
So ask yourself the following questions. If you answer yes, Divorce Mediation may be useful for you:
- Do I feel like I can talk to my spouse, be heard, and in turn hear what they have to say?
- Do I strongly wish to keep conversations humane, calm and productive?
- Have I reached a point of frustration with litigation where it seems silly not to just sit and talk with each other?
If you answered “Yes” to any of the above, call my office to schedule a free first mediation consult.
-Elissa C. Goldberg, Esquire