Hostile (litigated) divorces, in contrast, are expensive both financially and emotionally, and can tend to poison any future relationship the parents may have, which may be important for future co-parenting. Fault grounds can be unpleasant enough when true, and may sometimes be falsely alleged, as may anything else that an unethical spouse can think of.

Which is why non-court based dispute resolution approaches such as mediation and collaborative divorce has been developed.

Mediation is a growing way of resolving divorce issues. It tends to be less adversarial (particularly important for any children), allows the parties greater control and privacy, saves money, and generally achieves similar outcomes to the normal adversarial process. Also, courts will often approve a mediated settlement quickly.

Similar in concept, but with more support than mediation, is Collaborative Law, where both sides are represented by attorneys but commit to negotiating a settlement without engaging in litigation. Visit the st. louis collaborative divorce for more information about this.

Because of the additional support of attorneys and expert neutrals such as financial specialists and coaches, the success rate of a collaborative divorce is very high. In the rare event that the collaborative divorce process ends without the parties reaching a settlement, the collaborative lawyers become disqualified, and are replaced by new counsel. Learn more of what collaborative divorce can do with the st. louis collaborative divorce.

The reasoning is that the collaborative lawyers' sole interest will be to settle the case; and lawyers who specialize in collaborative divorce will often have additional training and skills to assist parties to settle.

Some believe that mediation may not be appropriate for all relationships, especially those that included physical or emotional abuse, or an imbalance of power and knowledge about the parties' finances, for example. Collaborative divorce, because of its additional support for parties, is better equipped to handle relationships with a history of abuse.

In collaborative law, the parties are fully informed about the law and the consequences of various options, and their advocates facilitate the negotiations. Collaborative law is an agreement from the beginning of the dispute not to go to court. If you want more information about collaborative divorce, process, and advantages then visit the st. louis collaborative divorce for more details.