Veronica Davis

What’s the role of a divorce mediator?

Published on June 14, 2022

Veronica Davis
Legal Assistant
Greater Philadelphia area

Divorce mediators offer couples an alternative to the traditional divorce court system.

Usually, the divorce mediation process is considerably more amicable and less contentious than working through the courts.

With divorce mediation, both parties sit down with a divorce mediator and discuss important issues that usually make court proceedings painful, prolonged, and expensive—like child custody, property division, or child support.

Essentially, mediators help couples settle their divorce outside of court. After all the issues are resolved, the mediator will draft a divorce settlement that gets sent to the court.

This post will break down the benefits of divorce mediation. Let’s dig in.

What Are The Benefits of Divorce Mediation?

Divorce Mediation Helps You Better Navigate The Issues

Divorce mediation can help you settle critical unresolved issues that have impactful financial and familial consequences that can draw out court proceedings and wrack up expenses. A divorce mediator helps both you and your partner take these issues head-on so that when the time comes for the actual divorce, there are no hang-ups or unresolved conflicts that will prolong the experience.

Essentially, divorce mediators help walk divorcees-to-be through the issues before resorting to court. Their services come in handy if you and your partner share many assets or care for a child who has special needs.

Divorce Mediation Gives You More Control Over the Process

In divorce court, the judge has the final say over who gets child custody, who keeps the house, and who gets the car. It’s not to say that judges don’t care about the cases under their jurisdiction, but when their caseload is high, it’s hard for them to give each case the individual care and attention that people seeking divorce deserve.

Nobody knows your situation better than you and your soon-to-be-ex. If possible, you both should determine the fate of the kids and your assets. Divorce mediators help you and your partner settle on your terms.

Divorce Mediation Helps You Settle Faster

If you can resolve your issues before heading to court, you are saving yourself months of drawn-out, contentious court battles with your ex. The courts already move at the speed of molasses on a cold day. If your issues are ironed out before a judge is even appointed, you are drastically increasing the speed at which your case will settle.

Divorce Mediation Saves (Considerable) Money

Needing a divorce attorney to represent you in divorce court causes your expenses to grow exponentially. This is especially true if you have many issues to settle with your ex. By hiring a divorce mediator, you and your spouse agree to split the cost of the service, which is far less expensive than fronting the entire bill of a divorce attorney for several months.

Some mediators allow divorce mediation lawyers to be present to represent each member of the couple, but this is usually discouraged and adds to the expense of the whole process.

When Is Divorce Mediation Not the Best Choice?

Divorce mediation is a valuable service, but it isn’t always the best choice. Divorce mediation doesn’t work well for couples whose relationship dynamics are strongly unequal. You can’t effectively mediate when both parties are not on equal footing.

Divorce mediation is also more expensive than DIY divorce services. However, with DIY divorce services, you are entirely on your own.

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About Veronica Baxter

Veronica Baxter is a legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area. She frequently works with the Schwartz Law Firm, leeaschwartz.com, a team of dedicated divorce and family law attorneys based in Philadelphia.

Divorce Law UK

What are the grounds for divorce in the United States

Published on October 4, 2021October 4, 2021

Veronica Baxter
Legal Assistant
Greater Philadelphia area

While the grounds, or legal reasons, for divorce vary from state to state, this article will explain common grounds for divorce and the difference between no-fault and at-fault grounds for divorce from the office of a noted divorce mediation attorney in Philadelphia.

At-Fault Divorce vs. No-Fault Divorce

As the names imply, there are grounds for divorce that involve the fault of one party ending the marriage, as well as those that involve no fault on either parties’ part. Some states offer both legal types of grounds for divorce; others, only no-fault divorce.

Divorce courts do not usually consider whether one spouse was at fault for ending the marriage when determining things like division of marital property and child support. However, fault may be a factor when it affects the marriage’s economic situation, as when one spouse is addicted to gambling and gambles away marital property.

Also, if the party at fault is the spousal support obligor, their misconduct may affect the amount of alimony the court awards.

Common Grounds for Divorce in the US

Separation

Separation is a no-fault reason for divorce recognized in many states. State law will provide a period of time the couple must have been separated or living in separate primary residences, such as six months, a year, or two years. The parties must agree to divorce and will each submit a sworn affidavit to that effect and include it in their divorce complaint.

Irreconcilable Differences

This is another no-fault reason for divorce commonly provided under state law, which may use similar language such as the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” Again, the parties must agree to divorce, and state law will provide the language describing the circumstances to which the parties must attest and assert in their divorce complaint.

Adultery

Adultery may be the most common at-fault reason for divorce. It requires the plaintiff to prove that their spouse committed adultery, and those elements vary state-to-state. For example, Pennsylvania defines adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse with a person besides your spouse.

Proof of adultery may affect alimony, and in some states, an unfaithful spouse is not eligible to receive alimony at all regardless of relative income. To allege adultery, the plaintiff spouse must have “clean hands” – meaning, they are not adulterers themselves.

Desertion

If one spouse has been totally absent from the marital household for a prescribed period of time, the remaining spouse may file divorce alleging desertion. In cases where the deserting spouse cannot be found, a divorce may be granted in absentia.

Some states use the term “presumption of death” when there has been a period of desertion, and the deserting spouse cannot be found.

Cruelty or Humiliation

Most states have statutes providing that a spouse that is either verbally or physically humiliated or treated cruelly may file for divorce on that basis. Acts of domestic violence fall under this category, but cruel or humiliating acts do not necessarily have to rise to that extreme.

The elements the victim must prove vary widely state-to-state, but in New Jersey, for example, the act or acts must endanger the life or the health of the victim.

Institutionalization for Mental Illness

Like desertion, the institutionalization must be for a specified period of time. Many states provide the grounds of “insanity,” implying an involuntary permanent commitment to an institution. This reason for divorce is often combined with a count of cruelty.

Imprisonment

If one spouse is imprisoned due to a crime involving the other spouse or any other crime, the other may file for divorce on that basis. The grounds of cruelty/domestic violence are often also used by the victim in filing for divorce.

Addiction to a Narcotic Drug or Alcohol

In most states, the habitual drunkenness or drug-induced altered state of one spouse allows the other to file divorce for that reason. These grounds are often combined with the grounds of Cruelty and of Institutionalization or Insanity when the victim files for divorce.

Deviant Sexual Conduct

Deviant sexual conduct is conduct of a sexual nature that the victim did not consent to. It is not often defined under state law and may be lumped under Cruelty or domestic violence grounds.

An experienced divorce attorney in your state will be able to explain the various grounds for divorce that are available to you, and help you determine which legal basis for divorce offers the best solution for you.

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