Infedelity is a popular reason that people seek out private investigations. Sometimes our investigations quell your suspicions and allow you to put them to rest. Other times, our investigations confirm them. When that happens, you get to decide how to proceed. If you decide that the only way forward is to divorce, you have options. Here are the main differences between divorce litigation and divorce mediation so that you can best decide which route is best for you.

Budget

Divorce will inherently involve changes to your finances. Which is why choosing the right option for your budget will help set you up for success after your divorce is finalized.

Divorce litigation involves a lot of people. Naturally, you must pay those people for their time. Attorney fees and court fees add up and people typically spend between $24,000 to $50,000 by the time proceedings finish.

Divorce mediation, on the other hand, is an option that doesn’t involve as many people; therefore, you don’t have to shell out as much for the service. On average, couples spend around $5,000 combined to settle divorce in mediation.

Schedule

The sooner you can get your divorce dealt with, the sooner you can move on. So, the next consideration you need to make is how much time you want to spend dealing with it.

Mediation is handled between you, your spouse, and your mediator. With a limited number of people involved, the divorce process tends to move along swiftly. Depending on how much back and forth there is, of course. If all parties are cooperative, the whole process can be done within 2-3 weeks.

As we touched on, litigation involves a lot more people. There are more steps, more coordinating, more planning, and more paperwork involved in divorce court. Given those reasons, divorce handled this way usually takes 22 months to resolve.

Control

Both options will also offer you different levels of control.

With litigation, you will collaborate with your attorney, your attorney will then speak on your behalf in the court, and the final judgment will be dealt out by the judge.

With mediation, you and your spouse can speak for yourself. You can voice your own objections and concerns and your mediator will work with you to come to resolutions that benefit you both. You have more control over the final say with mediation.​

Discretion

If privacy is a concern of yours, that’s a factor you need to consider when deciding between litigation and mediation as well.

Through litigation, the details of your case will be discussed in a public courtroom. And those details are then made available as public record. Anyone waiting for their time before the judge will be privy to the nature of your divorce.

Conversely, mediation takes place in a private setting. There are a limited number of people involved, and the only people that must know the details are you, your spouse, and your mediator.

As you can see, there are major differences in both the litigation and mediation processes. There are times where litigation makes more sense and is necessary, but for the times where it isn’t, you may consider mediation. And if mediation sounds like the right choice for your situation, contact our friends over at Solutions & Resolutions.