Mediation vs Litigation
Litigation can become about winning. Mediation is about resolving. Litigation can become uncivilized and undignified, a far cry to the very civil beginning of love and a relationship. Divorce mediation MA is a voluntary process by which two people in a dispute meet with an impartial third party to arrive at an informed settlement of a dispute. A mediator is a neutral person who does not represent either party, but is a facilitator to assist individuals in reaching an agreement on the terms of their Divorce. A mediator prepares a letter of understanding after every session. The letter of understanding summarizes the extent of any agreements reached after every session. From the letter of understanding, a divorce agreement can easily be drafted.
Generally, with mediation, expenses typically associated with a divorce action are reduced substantially, even when considering the cost to retain the mediator. This is largely due to the fact that during mediation, it is the parties who do much of the hard work in terms of working toward an agreement, which is the most difficult part of the divorce process. Even if the mediation process is subsequently abandoned, typically the agreement parties reached in mediation, is often similar to the final agreement reached after expending untold amount of legal fees, wasting personal energy and time, as well as increasing the hostility and acrimony.
Often people misunderstand the role of the mediator, and think that a mediator is an attorney who can represent both parties, and as such bring the matter to court. The role of the mediator is solely to bring people to a point of reasonable agreement, as a neutral party. Although the mediator may be an attorney, the mediator is not functioning as an attorney representing the interests of separate individuals. The mediator is like a referee, and as such, does not get up to bat or play ball, so to speak. The mediator stands in the middle of the two individuals and cannot take sides, unlike an attorney who advocates for one person, bringing the divorce through the courts.
In Divorce, a court has jurisdiction primarily over 4 disputed issues, which are like tracks going in the same direction, but do not necessarily cross:
1. Custody 2. Child support 3. Division of Property 4. Alimony
In divorce mediation MA, the issues to resolve can include some of or all of the four areas over which the Court has jurisdiction. When the couple sits down with the mediator, they need to resolve all related problems as well. For example, if the problem area is visitation, they need to deal with that even if custody is not in dispute.
The role of the lawyers in a traditional situation is to provide a voice of reason in an unreasonable situation. In mediation, the parties have an opportunity to find where they need to be reasonable in order to resolve their differences, thereby meeting their own needs. The reason the people are in mediation in the first place is that they are committed to end the dispute together, ostensibly reasonably.
For more information regarding Divorce Mediation MA, please visit Familylawmediationgroup.com
Mediation vs Litigation
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