Mediation vs going to court

Mediation vs going to court

Dealing with family matters or disputes can be highly stressful, especially when it comes to managing divorce or separation. Not only do emotions tend to run high, but there is also a lot of pressure to make some of the most important decisions you can make for you and your family quickly. It’s important to keep a clear head when deciding on matters like parenting arrangements, financial settlements or when proceeding with a divorce. Letting emotion take over when it comes to legalities can be costly and creates headaches for you and your family to deal with later on down the road.

A lot of people find that when disputes end up in the courtroom, things get costly, time consuming and escalate very quickly. Often when divorces are settled inside a court room the emotion involved can push partners to treat it as an exercise in punishing their ex-partner. Court rooms tend to be naturally adversarial spaces, and when emotions run high it’s easy for people to escalate and take more drastic legal actions as a way of seeking retribution especially when there are a few lawyers and a range of other professionals in play.

Bringing a case to court is sometimes the best, or only way to settle a case, but for many people it’s a quick recipe for worsening and already bad situation. Courtroom’s can be traumatic for children, unnecessarily expensive and place more strain then necessary on the family unit.

More often than not, mediation outside of the courtroom leads to better outcomes than courtroom battles for a fraction of the cost, time and stress usually involved. It’s no wonder then that mediation now represents such a large proportion of settlements when it comes to family matters.

Why mediation works

Mediation in its most basic sense is all about settling disagreements outside of help with the assistance of professional legal practitioners. It’s often viewed as the softer approach, so people tend to avoid it when there are serious issues at play like infidelity, but sometimes it’s the better choice when emotion is involved and can lead to a better outcome for all parties involved.

The law is concerned with facts, and it’s often the case that when faced with a judge or in a courtroom setting, little else matters than black and white facts and tangible proof. Mediation recognises the importance of the grey area in relationship matters and in making each party feel like their grievances are appropriately heard and understood. Mediation gives people much more control over the outcome of their settlement.

Mediation involves the whole family, allowing everyone, including children, to be involved and heard. Mediation leads to more equitable outcomes and a far less traumatic experience then having decisions made for them by a completely impartial judge. Avoiding compounding upon the devastation of dealing with a parents divorce is a major draw for families when it comes to mediation.

Mediation moves much more quickly than settlements made inside the courtroom, ensuring a cleaner, quicker outcome for all parties involved. This can really reduce the stress involved and help with parties who wish to move forward and begin healing as quickly as possible.

Mediation might not be the best option in cases where abuse, domestic violence or other serious allegations are involved. Criminal behaviours or cases where one party is at risk or intimidated by the other party are best settled in a court room.

Mediation is a great way of resolving disputes, even in complex situations it can be a much more powerful tool for resolving conflicts, but it’s not right for everyone.