Giggles 'n More

Consider Co-Mediation for Divorce

Article by Brian James

Couples filing for divorce should be aware of a new service called co mediation. In a traditional divorce, both husband and wife hire a divorce attorney. Couples are encouraged to fight for what they want with a divorce attorney. And the result is a divorce process that takes months or years to complete.

A service called mediation offers relief for divorcing couples. With the help of a mediator, the divorcing couples can sit down together, make a target list of issues like finances, division of assets, and child visitation and work towards reaching an agreement on those issues. By creating a safe, neutral environment where each person can be heard, it allows you to put destructive feelings aside and focus on finding a solution that works for both individuals using divorce mediation.

Mediation in general is used to work through issues between divorcing couples before going to court. In many states the judge recommends mediation before going to trial to insure that all issues of finance, child custody, and other concerns have been agreed up previously as to not make the court proceedings drag on. Since mediation is usually less expensive than working this out at trial, it makes financial sense for mediation agreements to be worked through prior to the actual dissolution of the marriage in court.

Now, a service called co-mediation offers some advantages to making the family mediation process more more quickly and easily. In a co-mediation service process, two mediators work together to help a couple resolve issues. Having two mediators makes it easier to hear and see all sides of an issue. Additionally, when two mediators work together in a co-mediation team, there is more creativity and strategy to pull from in creating win/win solutions. Another aspect is that each divorce mediator pulls from a different set of life and work experience allowing for additional insight and perception of the situations. Maybe the women is more open with another women and a man may feel more secure working with a male counterpart during mediation. This type of mediation can make mediation a more agreeable way to work through issues before going to court.

Many couples have found that having a man and woman working together on mediating an issue during a divorce offers two points of view. It may help ensure there are fewer post-decree issues and court appearances. With less fighting, you can process your divorce and get on creating a new life for yourself.