We note on our website at the Orange County Family Law Offices of Glen L. Rabenn that many couples going through a litigated court-driven divorce overseen by a California judge would do things differently if they had a second chance.
We point out that, “Had the clients been aware of the likely outcome and the wasteful nature of the proceedings, they would have gladly mediated their divorce.”
A mediated California divorce is in fact something increasingly more divorcing couples in the state are at least considering, if not willingly engaged in, with the reasons so being myriad and often compelling.
There is autonomy, first of all, with control over the process — its pace and timing, its agenda, agreements regarding what needs to be stressed and what can be deemphasized and so forth — being relatively heightened in mediation as compared with a “traditional” courtroom divorce.
And that power reserved to the participants — rather than resting with their attorneys and, ultimately, in a judge’s discretion over virtually all material matters — can markedly increase civility, which, as we note on our site, “naturally lessens tension.” Candidly, there is already enough of that.
And here’s a point that is clearly important for many divorcing couples: Unlike the public-record nature of court proceedings, confidentiality attaches to communications exchanged in a mediated divorce.
And then there is, of course, a comparison of costs. In recent years, many diverse family law sources have lauded the reduced costs often associated with divorce mediation as compared with a court proceeding.
Collectively, there can be much upside for a couple opting to process their divorce through mediation instead of litigation.
An experienced California family law attorney can discuss mediation and other divorce processes with an interested individual or couple.