On behalf of Sena Family Law & Mediation Practice posted in None on Thursday, April 6, 2017.
It is natural to feel out of sorts both emotionally and financially when going through the divorce process. However, divorce mediation can help you take back control of planning your own life. By negotiating a divorce settlement, which is an alternative to traditional litigation in the state of California, you can make informed decisions regarding your future when dealing with your child and your finances.
What are the steps in mediation?
If you decide to participate in mediation, you can expect each of your sessions to be between one hour and two hours in length. Your first meeting will involve calling attention to those issues that you and your spouse must discuss and then deciding on what information you need to obtain and share in future sessions. This information might include data pertaining to your finances as well as an appraiser or accountant’s opinion.
In your subsequent meetings, you will strive to find common ground with your spouse on a variety of issues ranging from child custody to asset division. Your mediator, a neutral third party, will play an important part in helping you to communicate effectively with each other and in giving you information regarding the court system and how issues are commonly resolved.
Reaching an agreement
After a few sessions — on average, at least three or four sessions lasting two hours each over the course of between one and two months — you may be able to reach an agreement with your future ex-spouse on all of the issues brought up. In more complicated cases, reaching an agreement might take between four and six months.
Either way, once you and your spouse have negotiated a mutually satisfactory agreement, your mediator will draft it for both of you to review. Then, the paperwork is filed with the court.
A knowledgeable attorney in the state of California can guide you through the mediation process and help you to attain the outcome you desire. The benefit of negotiating a divorce settlement is that you can learn how to make joint decisions with your future ex regarding your child, which will prove handy in the long run. In addition, the process is generally less costly, less time consuming and much more amicable than going to trial, so it will be less stressful for the whole family.