Good Divorce Week – #ABetterWay

As part of Resolution’s Good Divorce Week 2021, we are sharing daily top tips on how you can have a ‘Good Divorce’:

Consider Alternatives to the Court Process

The court system offers many benefits in reaching agreements between the parties to a divorce. Some of these are related to resolving financial and child arrangement issues.

For example, the court system may provide specific time frames to assist the parties with their document disclosure preventing matters extending for uncertain periods. It may also offer the possibility of appointing a third-party expert to deal with contentious matters.

However, it is not a requirement for all divorces to go to court as it can be a stressful, intimidating, and costly process for the parties. In addition, court may involve complicated rules, procedures, and applications.

Some tips for resolving divorce disputes, other than by litigation, are:

1. Negotiation Through Solicitor: a specialised solicitor will be able to give the party to a divorce an impartial view of his/her matter, offer a range of skills and experience in reaching an agreement through negotiations, offer help in narrowing down issues, and provide recommendations about how to deal best with contentious situations.
2. Mediation: this is a flexible, voluntary, and confidential option. A neutral third party will assist the parties to a divorce to work towards a negotiated settlement. This option allows the parties to retain control of the decisions made, whether to settle and the settlement terms.
3. Collaborative Law: a specially trained solicitor in resolving family law disputes acts for each party through a series of four-way meetings attended by the parties and their respective collaborative trained solicitors. This option allows the parties to discuss and resolve their financial and child arrangements with more flexibility for each party’s schedule and is generally faster than court.
4. Arbitration is a good option where the parties cannot resolve matters through negotiation but still wish to decide that will be binding upon them without incurring in-court costs and time. An arbitrator or panel of arbitrators is appointed by the parties to make a binding decision, from which there are minimal grounds of challenge.

Family Law Solicitors

There are several advantages to resolving a divorce outside Court. If you wish to find out more about determining your divorce in the fastest and less contentious way, please contact 01483 451900 and ask to speak to a member of our family team. Alternatively, you can make an online enquiry and we will call you back.