Divorce Brings With it Many Decisions to be Made
May 21, 2015 by West Coast ADR
If you are planning on ending your marriage, have you thought about how this is going to modify and rearrange your living arrangements? There are a lot of decisions you and your spouse are going to have to make, such as whom the children are going to live with, child visitation, child support, property division, spousal support — just to name a few.
You have a couple of options to help you with these decisions. One option, of course, is to go to court and let the judge make the decisions for you. Just keep in mind that when the judge makes the decisions for you, they may not be in your favour. While judges try to be impartial and fair, this type of decision-making often turns out to be more favourable to one party than the other, which breeds dissent between two parents, who may have otherwise ended their marriage in an amiable fashion.
Your other option is using collaborative law. In this case, you and your spouse can work together through a mediator to make these important decisions. You’ve been making decisions together throughout your marriage — and you are probably the best people to make them regarding your break up. A mediator can set up other professionals that may be needed, such as a tax or financial professional, a counsellor, or any other resources that will make the process easier or lessen the complexities.
When the important decisions, such as child care, visitation and child support have been made, your attorney can help you draw up an agreement and file it with the court. The agreement does not have to be filed with the court, but by doing so, the court can enforce the agreement if it ever becomes necessary. It can be filed at any time, but a court cannot enforce it until it is filed in the court system.
If you are planning on ending your marriage, have you thought about how this is going to modify and rearrange your living arrangements? There are a lot of decisions you and your spouse are going to have to make, such as whom the children are going to live with, child visitation, child support, property division, spousal support — just to name a few.
You have a couple of options to help you with these decisions. One option, of course, is to go to court and let the judge make the decisions for you. Just keep in mind that when the judge makes the decisions for you, they may not be in your favour. While judges try to be impartial and fair, this type of decision-making often turns out to be more favourable to one party than the other, which breeds dissent between two parents, who may have otherwise ended their marriage in an amiable fashion.
Your other option is using collaborative law. In this case, you and your spouse can work together through a mediator to make these important decisions. You’ve been making decisions together throughout your marriage — and you are probably the best people to make them regarding your break up. A mediator can set up other professionals that may be needed, such as a tax or financial professional, a counsellor, or any other resources that will make the process easier or lessen the complexities.
When the important decisions, such as child care, visitation and child support have been made, your attorney can help you draw up an agreement and file it with the court. The agreement does not have to be filed with the court, but by doing so, the court can enforce the agreement if it ever becomes necessary. It can be filed at any time, but a court cannot enforce it until it is filed in the court system.