Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Many Benefits Of Using Long Island Divorce Mediation Services

By Tiffany Gill


It is truly sad to see just how many marriages break down, causing suffering and hardship for all concerned. Unfortunately, there is no indication that this sad trend will be reversed and divorce courts are as busy as ever. The process can be expensive, however, especially if the break up is not amicable. One of the best solutions is to make use of Long Island divorce mediation services.

Many people think that hiring a lawyer to represent them is their only option. In most cases, each of the partners hires his or her own lawyer. This can become a very expensive exercise because each lawyer only cares about the interests of his client and negotiations can therefore become protracted. However, there is an alternative. Couples splitting up can also opt to make use of the services rendered by mediators.

One of the biggest stumble blocks on the road towards an amicable settlement is agreement on financial matters. Couples have numerous important decisions to make. Among others, they have to decide upon the division of their assets. They also need to agree on how their debt will be handled, how their joint accounts will be managed and numerous other issues that can make an agreement very difficult.

If there are children in the picture everything possible is done to make sure that their interests are place above and beyond all other issues. Custody decisions are made round the needs of the children and not around the wishes of the parents. Provision should also be made for visiting rights and financial arrangements have to be made to make sure that they will be able to enjoy a proper education.

Mediators specialize in helping couples to reach agreements. They do not judge and they do not represent either of the parties. If the couple is agreeable and genuinely interested in a fair agreement the process can be finalized rather quickly. However, if there are numerous disagreements or if the parties involved refuse to communicate with each other the process can take much longer.

There are numerous advantages in using a mediator rather than lawyers. One of the biggest benefits is the cost factors. The fees charged by mediators are substantially less that those demanded by attorneys. There is also the matter of confidentiality. An agreement reached with the aid of a mediator remains confidential while cases argued by lawyers in open court are accessible to everybody.

There are many people, especially legal practitioners that criticize mediators. They argue that mediators are not trained in all the intricate legal aspects that come into play when a marriage is dissolved. They say that this can result in losses for one of the parties simply because the person concerned has not been fully briefed about all his or her rights.

There can be little doubt that Long Island divorce mediation services can save couple money and time. Agreements reached with the help of a mediator are routinely endorsed by judges and made a court order. This helps to speed up the process and to help unclog the over burdened legal system.




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