Divorce is common, but trips to divorce court don’t have to be. Divorce mediation is becoming progressively more popular, including in cities like Fort Myers, Florida. Many couples, whether parting with sweet sorrow or bitter acrimony, find that divorce mediation is a productive route to addressing issues and avoiding the extraordinary expense and time involved with going to divorce court. There are several steps to take to ensure that your divorce mediation is successful.
One is to organize all of your financial documents, so you can can quickly reference and share information. Doing this before you go to the meeting will save you a lot of time. It will also help to ensure that communications are clear and unambiguous, which will allow you to address financial issues. Your documents should include all available data on bank accounts, brokerage accounts, real estate, mutual funds, and everything else.
You should also be sure to have your emotions in check. The way that you feel about the person you’re divorcing isn’t the point. The point is to clearly communicate about assets in order to obtain a truly fair division of them.
On a related note, you should commit to sincere negotiation and avoid arguing. Make your views clear in a constructive manner so that the divorce mediator can do his or her job and put together a deal you’ll be happy with. Remember that, of course, you’re not going to be 100 percent happy with the division of assets because that would mean that you got everything.
By taking these points into account, you can maximize the prospective success of your divorce mediation session. Be prepared and stay on track.
Source: The Huffington Post, “How to Prepare for Your First Mediation Session — Your Eight Steps Plan,” Dr. Michelle Rozen, accessed June 14, 2016
