What Is the Difference between Mediation and Collaboration?
If you’re facing a divorce and you and your divorcing spouse are both committed to keeping your case out of court, mediation and collaboration are both great options that help streamline the process while saving time and money and reducing overall stress. It’s important to recognize, however, that they’re distinct from one another, and a better understanding of each can help you make the right choice for you. Working closely with an experienced mediation attorney in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from the start is the surest means of protecting your parental and financial rights throughout the divorce process.
Mediation
If you and your divorcing spouse aren’t able to resolve each of the following divorce terms – as applicable – between yourselves and your respective divorce attorneys, mediation offers another opportunity:
- Your child custody arrangements, which include your parenting plan
- Child support
- The division of your marital property
- Alimony
The Mediation Process
At mediation, you and your spouse – along with your respective divorce attorneys – will meet with a professional mediator who is there as a neutral third party. The mediator will first set the ground rules and then will go back and forth between the two of you attempting to move negotiations forward – as guided by whatever compromises and concessions each of you is willing to make.
The Outcome of Mediation
Mediation is a far less formalized process than going to court, and it allows you and your divorcing spouse to retain the authority to make primary decisions that will directly affect your future. Mediation is only legally binding if you and your soon-to-be ex reach mutually acceptable terms that you are willing to sign off on. If one or more of your divorce terms remain unresolved after mediation, your case will very likely go to trial.
Collaborative Divorce
Collaboration – or collaborative divorce – is a hybrid between mediation and divorce court that many couples find helpful. In a collaborative divorce, you and your collaborative divorce attorney – and your spouse and theirs – will need to sign participation agreements that indicate your commitment to the collaborative process.
Throughout the collaborative divorce process, you’ll come together for meetings in which you’ll attempt to negotiate those divorce terms that you’ve yet to resolve. Often, specialists such as forensic accountants, childcare professionals, and even mediators are involved.
If – after the collaborative divorce process – you and your divorcing spouse remain at odds about one or more divorce terms, you’ll need to start over from scratch. This means that each of you will need to hire new divorce attorneys – and you’ll very likely be headed to court. In other words, it’s important to go into the collaborative divorce process with a commitment to making it work, or it could end up being a costly detour on the way to court.
An Experienced Harrisburg, PA, Divorce Attorney Can Help
Maria Cognetti is a formidable Harrisburg divorce attorney at Cognetti Law Group who has earned an impressive reputation for successfully guiding clients through divorce mediation and through collaborative divorce with their rights intact, and she welcomes the opportunity to also help you. Learn more by contacting us online or calling 717-909-4060 today.