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Filing for Divorce With a Mediator’s Help

ByLegal Newsletter

Marriage is one of the universal institutions around the world, and today, there are statistics tracking at what age people marry and how long they knew their spouse before engagement. Sometimes, a marriage will end in divorce for any number of reasons, and when this happens, the spouses may need mediation to ensure that a smooth and fair divorce can be had, and such divorce counsel may be especially important in a divorce if a lot of assets are involved, such as money, houses and cars, under-18 children, a private business, and more. Mediation can help if both spouses cannot agree on how to divide their assets, and sometimes, divorce lawyers may be hired to promote one spouse’s side of the case. A person can look for such mediation assistance during a difficult divorce, and they can enter Internet searches such as “divorce mediation Boston MA” or “divorce mediation firm Miami FL” to get professional assistance.

Marriage and Divorce

There are numbers to show how Americans today marry, and how often they divorce and why. Researchers have suggested that overall, a marriage may have a 50% chance of lasting, meaning that nearly half of marriages will end with divorce, but there are factors that may determine if a given couple will do this or not. For example, it has been found that if two people knew each other and dated for at least three years before their engagement, their marriage would be more likely to last compared to a couple who dated for less than one year before their engagement. What is more, it has been found that couples without children are 40% less likely to divorce than those who do, possibly because the financial strain of the child or disagreements on parenting methods can harm the marriage. It has also been found that those who attended college are 13% less likely to divorce.

What else might cause a marriage to end? Infidelity, cheating on one’s spouse, is the number one cause for divorce today, and other common reasons include drug or alcohol abuse, verbal abuse or violence (or the threat thereof), vastly different lifestyles or spending habits, or general incompatibility (the latter may be more common for those who didn’t date much before marriage). In general, two out of three people filing for divorce are women, and at any rate, the filer might also leave the residence and take under-18 children with them, often if the other spouse is violent, abusing drugs, or threatening family members. The filer might take up a temporary and private residence to stay safe while filing for divorce, and may interact with the other spouse only through a lawyer. In many cases, with or without a residential separation, a mediator may be called in to help with the divorce.

Mediation
According to Mediate, a divorce mediator is a neutral third party who, unlike a divorce attorney, is not representing one side exclusively. Rather, this mediator will help the two spouses communicate clearly and effectively and help both of them come up with constructive solutions to the problems of the divorce, ranging from tax money to child custody to ownership of various property such as cars, houses or vacation homes, RVs, boats, or even jewelry or family heirlooms. A divorce mediator can be hired when one or both spouses searches online for a firm and hires a mediator whose credentials, work history, and personality are to the clients’ liking, and someone filing for divorce may, if they feel the need, consult the divorce court for the names of reputable divorce mediation firms.

Divorce mediation can be done over a number of sessions, and they may be done once per week, once per two weeks, once a month, or at any other rate that the divorcing spouses feel is necessary, and the whole time, the mediator will ensure total privacy of all details and proceedings. The mediator can also help with communication between the two people after the divorce is complete if need be. This stands in contrast to a divorce taking place in a divorce court, where anyone and everyone can hear the details of what is happening, so two spouses who want to keep things private can instead enlist the aid of a mediator.

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