If you and your spouse believe that staying married is no longer the best thing for you or your family, you now must figure out how to handle your divorce.
When it comes to separating your entwined lives, you have options, including the traditional litigated divorce that pits you in direct conflict against your spouse. Mediation provides quite a different option.
Conflict and Mediation
Divorcing spouses clearly experience some level of conflict or disagreement. However, you do not need to assume that your spouse is inept or has cruel intentions simply because you hold different views. Traditional divorces adopt a win-lose setup that tend to ratchet up the level of conflict and hostility between spouses. Children generally feel the impact of this as well.
Mediation, on the other hand, naturally works to reduce the level of conflict and hostility and even bring the spouses together in something of a team spirit. As explained by Forbes, instead of trying to beat each other, both parties must work together to find an acceptable outcome. The mediator does not make decisions or even offer solutions but rather guides the spouses through the process of doing this on their own.
Benefits to Spouses and Children
Reducing conflict may well reduce the level of stress you feel during your divorce. This spills over to your children and allows them to navigate a sea of change with less negativity.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give spouses in Massachusetts an understanding of the basic tenets of mediation and how it may benefit them during and after a divorce.