When I started out as a baby attorney in 2008, there were few options for divorcing spouses other than the standard litigation route. Now as I enter my 18th year of practice, I’m happy to see that the divorce process has evolved and incorporates broader options that create a more humane and intentional path to the resolution of custody and financial issues.
Standard divorce litigation is expensive, time consuming, and can erode a couple’s ability to coparent post-divorce, in light of the acrimony it breeds. Additionally, a couple who turns the decision over to a judge puts the most important matters – their financial security and their children – in a stranger’s hands.
Couples who wish to define their own divorce path and curate a result that works for their family and their unique circumstances can do so via alternate dispute resolution options. Those options include mediation and collaborative divorce.
Mediation is a process that involves the implementation of a neutral who will assist the couple in the resolution of financial matters and the creation of a parenting plan. Mediation happens outside of court and can be done with or without the assistance of attorneys. The mediator’s role is to attempt to obtain consensus between the couple and this can be done over one session or as many sessions as it takes. Mediators can be attorneys, mental health experts, or even retired judges.
Collaborative divorce is the voluntary process of engaging neutral professionals to assist the couple in reaching a resolution of their financial and parent-related issues. In this context, the couple each has their own attorney and additional professionals are engaged, which can include a financial specialist, a child specialist, and/or a divorce coach. This is a team approach and all of the professionals engaged are focused on getting the couple to a full resolution and settlement. In the event a full resolution is not reached, the couple must employ new attorneys to move forward with litigation.
I am surprised at how many new clients we speak with that haven’t heard of one or both of these alternatives. And, I am happy to see that more clients are choosing to engage in these alternative divorce paths as, in my experience, the satisfaction that they have at the end of their case routinely surpasses the level of client satisfaction following an expensive and contested trial.
To learn more about how the Law Office Of Jennifer Guimond-Quigley can assist you, please call 312-754-1319 (ext. 1001), email jennifer@gqlawoffice.com or visit www.gqlawoffice.com.
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