Divorce mediation is increasingly popular because it gives the parties, not a judge who was never party to the marriage, greater control over the timing and substance of settlement negotiations.
Mediation works best when there is little disagreement over the main points of property distribution and child custody. Generally speaking, it is not cost-effective to go to trial when the value of the estate at stake is relatively modest.
In the best case, it can take only a matter of weeks between the time you file a divorce action with your mediated agreement to the time a judge signs off on a settlement to dissolve the marriage. Conversely, it is not uncommon to wait six weeks or even a few months between court appearances when wrangling over your divorce under the traditional litigated model. Deposition scheduling can sometimes be a nightmare; complex financial accounting and real estate valuations can involve considerable time and expense and controversy; and your spouse may have reason to drag out the process in order to continue a situation with respect to spousal support and living arrangements that is to his or her advantage.
Face-to-face negotiations facilitated by a capable divorce y cut right to the chase. Much of the posturing and shaming and legal chicanery that often characterizes no-holds-barred court filings can be avoided. While it is always recommended that you have an attorney serve as review counsel or legal coach to guide your steps and review your interim and final agreements, you will save enormous quantities of time and money when your settlement talks are guided by an attorney/mediator who has vast knowledge and long experience of how Connecticut judges tend to rule and what kind of compromises expedite agreement between spouses contesting financial and custody issues.
Once a judge has ruled in a way that is sharply adverse to your interests, that’s pretty much the ballgame. Appeals of divorce settlements are expensive and time-consuming and not particularly likely to succeed. In a mediation process, you have a chance to lay out the whole picture in a way that simply is not possible in court, due to time constraints and rules of evidence. This does not mean that the mediator will allow the session to become an unproductive, one-sided harangue that does nothing to move the ball forward, as often happens when mediations are guided by psychotherapists or ex-pastors whose legal training consists of a two-week cram session every now and then. Rather you will be afforded a period of venting for the benefit of moving past impasses and reaching resolutions on areas that needed to be flushed out a bit before agreements could be made.
Hirsch Legal, LLC has many years of experience advocating for increased reliance on divorce mediation, which for many is a vastly less intimidating and more practical alternative to slugging it out in the courtroom. Our principal attorney, Carmina Hirsch, a recognized leader in Connecticut divorce law, is ideally equipped to facilitate a reasonable and fair settlement that will be quickly ratified by a judge.
Hirsch Legal, LLC is based in Shelton, Connecticut, where we serve clients from Upper Fairfield County, Connecticut (Bridgeport, Stratford, Shelton, Trumbull, Monroe, Newtown, Brookfield, Danbury, Fairfield) and New Haven County, Connecticut (Milford, Orange, Woodbridge, Bethany, West Haven, New Haven, Hamden, Oxford, Seymour, Ansonia, Derby, Waterbury, Bethany).
If you are contemplating divorce, we can help you evaluate whether your needs are better served by mediation or litigation. We look forward to your call!