Whenever two people decide to get a divorce, it is never an easy choice. It quite often takes a long time to come to that decision and once you have agreed to get a divorce, the last thing either you or your spouse really wants is to have things dragged out in court. But quite often that's what happens. Divorce papers are filed and then there is the task of dividing assets, settling mutual debt, child custody and support. What a lot of couples don't realize is that you don't have to go through the court system to have things settled. Divorce in Arizona doesn't have to be a difficult time. Mediation in Arizona can help make the transition easier and less stressful.



Unlike the traditional court system, divorce mediation is not adversarial in nature, but is instead collaborative, with both of you working together to come up with solutions that are satisfactory to everyone. Going through the courts to settle any divorce issues such as division of assets or child custody quite often means that both parties are represented by their own lawyer and are only concerned with what they can get out of the arrangement. With the help of a mediator you and your spouse sit together and work out agreements that are mutually satisfactory, which works much better, especially if there are children involved.

With divorce mediation, you sit down with a mediator to discuss the terms of the divorce and to arrive at a settlement that everyone can live with. By using this method you have much more of a say in how things turn out. The mediator is a neutral third party, which is why mediation is in no way adversarial. The mediator is not making any of the decisions, but is there to simply guide the participating parties through their discussion.

If you are going through a divorce in Arizona, there are many benefits to handling it through a mediator. Using a mediator increases the likelihood not only that things are settled in a manner that works for everyone, but also that each person sticks to the agreement. Mediation quite often deals with psychological and emotional issues stemming from the divorce, something that traditional courts do not do. By dealing with any emotional issues stemming form the divorce, you can move on and deal with other things like dividing money and assets. Mediation is also more cost efficient that going through the courts, since you don't have to pay for a lawyer to plead your case. Mediations tend to take less time that court, so you are also saving time.

Most importantly, though, divorce mediation gives you full control of the situation and what happens. The mediator can't force a decision on you. Quite often during a divorce one or both parties feel like they have no control over the situation: mediation gives back some of that control.

If you are going through a divorce in Arizona and there are children involved, mediation can be instrumental in not only settling custody and child support issues, but also in helping you and your ex build a new relationship that will be needed when dealing with parenting issues in the future.

At any point during mediation, if you are feeling uncomfortable or have questions about any of the decisions being made, you can ask a lawyer to look over things for you. The key to mediation working is that both parties feel comfortable and not threatened in any way. If there is a history of verbal or physical violence in the relationship, mediation will not work and is not recommended. If at any time you aren't satisfied with the proceedings in your mediation you can easily go through normal court proceedings for divorce. See, divorce in Arizona doesn't have to be hard!