Category Archives: Divorce

What is the best way to get a low cost divorce?

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Divorce is an expensive life event, especially if the divorce is contested in court.  Divorce lawyers charge thousands just for taking on a simple divorce with few assets and no children. Cases with children, costly assets, and one or both parties contesting for ownership or custody can cost $10,000 and upwards.  Divorce through divorce attorneys and the court system can wreck your ego and your bank account, which is why looking for a low-cost divorce makes sense.
Hiring a qualified divorce mediator is a more cost-effective approach than using an attorney to present your case in court.  A divorce mediator can usually settle divorce cases for thousands of dollars less in initial costs, but can also help keep the anger and resentment to a minimum in a time when both seem to get the better of all parties involved.
Many mediators are also attorneys who will be able to file the paperwork for you to continue the legal process, but will do it at a fraction of the cost that divorce attorneys will charge for this same service. A mediation professional is also an attorney, but one who focuses on getting information to both parties in a non-threatening way.  If you hire a mediation attorney, you will make your own decisions, with the non-biased expertise of a mediation expert.  Particularly if spouses are able to compromise without greed, the mediation process will be the least expensive and quickest way to obtain a divorce so that each party involved can move on with their lives with their dignity and bank accounts intact.

Why Mediation is a Good Method to Determine Child Support Arrangements

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Child support is one of many issues that might arise between contesting parties that can be mediated.  Typically, when a mediator raises the issue of child support in the mediation process, he or she will consider two types of expenses:

  1. Those that happen on a regular or recurring basis – this type of expense generally includes things like rent/mortgage payments, real estate taxes, automobile expenses, utilities, food (including school lunch money), medical and dental insurance, clothes, personal care (haircuts, cosmetics, and health products), and entertainment (such as eating out, bowling, or going to the movies).
  2. Those that happen on an irregular or non-recurring basis –this type of expense generally includes child care expenses (baby sitters, summer camp), education (private school or nursery school), school supplies (including uniforms), school trips, medical and dental co-pays/ medical gifts for child’s friends (for birthday parties), sporting goods, hobbies, toys, extracurricular activities (lessons, clubs, scouting trips and organization participation), tutoring, psychotherapy, and college.
Once an approximate expense record is determined, the mediator will then work with the two parties to come up with an amount that is proportionate and fair to each parent.  This means that the mediator will look at both parents’ wages (if both are wage earners), significant assets, potential investment or trust income, and other factors that are not related to income (such as the amount of assistance each will receive from family members and who is the primary custodial parent).  The amount of monthly child support payments to cover the regular expenses will be determined and the mediator will also discuss with the parties how the irregular expenses will be handled.
This type of mediated child support arrangement is often better than court-ordered child support, since the process of mediation is done in such a way as to allow each party the opportunity to participate in the discussion.  Mediation tends to keep anger and resentment at a minimum – something that is extremely useful when two parties are discussing what is best for the children involved in a divorce or separation.
Since the mediation process is legally binding once a resolution has been made, neither party has to worry about the outcome being less enforceable than what it would have been if the courts had determined it.  This makes the mediation process – particularly as it relates to child support payments – a win-win situation for all parties (including the children) involved in the conflict.