Are you preparing yourself for divorce? Are you ready to use mediation to your advantage? Have you come to find that you still have many high level decisions to make during the mediation process?
While there is a lot to think about, don’t be surprised if you find yourself focusing most of your attention on property and debt division. To many people, especially those without children, there is little more important than this.
With litigation, the court may very well have the final say about all things related to property division (among a variety of other matters).
Conversely, with mediation, you and your soon to be ex-spouse can maintain more control over the process. This doesn’t mean it will be simple to reach your goals, but at least you’re in position to control the process, to a certain degree, from beginning to end.
As you prepare for mediation with an eye toward property division, there are a few things you may want to do.
To start, you can create a property division checklist that outlines all the assets that require division. You could break this down into four primary categories, including: financial assets, real property, personal property and business assets.
Along with this, make note of any debts that require division. This could add even more stress to your divorce, as you’ll come to find how much debt you’re carrying, but it’s something you typically need to do. From credit cards to personal loans to your mortgage, all of these debts could come into play.
With mediation, there is no guarantee that you will get everything you want. You still need to negotiate and compromise. However, your voice will be heard, which is more than you can always say with litigation.
In addition to providing more control, mediation can be cheaper and more efficient than litigation. Furthermore, it might result in a more amicable divorce, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
There is typically no escaping matters of property division during divorce, so you might as well begin working on this detail as soon as you know that it’s time to put your marriage behind you. With knowledge of the mediation process, your assets and your legal rights, you may be able to get you want out of the process.