Mediate Michigan

(This article focuses primarily on Virginia law but provides insightful information on alternatives to litigation in divorce.)

Contested divorce, marked by a hyper-formal courtroom atmosphere featuring indirect spousal communication, dueling intermediaries and a third-party decision maker, has long been the dominant process for ending marriages in Virginia and elsewhere throughout the United States.

Although it certainly works for some, for many others – couples with widely varying family, financial and other relevant circumstances – the attendant costs, both immediate and long-term, are being increasingly questioned. It is no small secret in American life that a litigated divorce outcome typically exacts a large toll in time, money and family relationships.

That realization has led to a diminution in the perceived value of a “traditional” divorce in the minds of many separating spouses. In tandem, it has brought an increased appreciation for divorce alternatives that allow for greater couple autonomy in the process and an abatement of the friction and loss of control that are often associated with a court proceeding.

via Press Release – Options to Adversarial Divorce: New Focus on an Often Flawed Process.