Myth #6 – Contested Divorces are Best Managed in Court

This is not always the case.  It is not patently false though.

Contested divorces are the ones where divorcing couples cannot agree on the terms of their divorce, typically they are intractable around issues of division of assets, or time-sharing with the children of the divorce.

A large percentage of these never get to court.  Effective mediation can help bring resolution to hard issues.  In Florida, mediation is not optional.  In fact, a judge can order couples to return to mediation if mediation fails.  Mediation works for many reasons, not the least of which is the expense of a trial, compared to the expense of a mediator.

There are additional advantages and that is anything said in mediation is confidential (unless it involves harm to a minor or a senior), it will not become public knowledge in a trial.  Anything said in a trial becomes public knowledge.  Frequently divorce is a result of inappropriate actions on the part of one or the other parties, inappropriate actions that one would prefer to not become a matter of public record.  For those that are going to head to court, even after mediation, mediation also becomes an effective time to see the direction of opposing counsel prior to trial or discovery, which could be advantageous in the trial.  Mediation is a required step in the process, it is often successful, even when couples could see no room to move from their position.  Mediation saves an incredible amount of money in the divorce process, and is entirely confidential allowing you to deal with issues, not in the public record.