New Jersey residents might only be familiar with divorce through television dramas or movies. In these scenes, the court proceeding is always dramatic with high emotions and ruthless legal teams.
Divorce doesn’t have to be that way. There are several pathways for divorce depending on your needs and the needs of your family.
Consider if there’s room for discussion
Sometimes people drift apart, and it’s nobody’s fault. In a no-fault divorce, you may not want a stressful divorce process or to take your soon-to-be ex for all their worth.
If that’s the case, you and your ex might be looking for a collaborative divorce path. This will allow you and your ex to negotiate the terms of your divorce, prioritizing working together over trying to get a lot out of the other person.
No compromise in sight
Other times, you might not want to work with your ex – and that’s also okay and legitimate. In this case, you’d consider a traditional divorce pathway, also known as a litigation divorce.
Litigation divorces involve you and your ex-spouse arguing over various assets and agreements, such as alimony and child support. You will each make your case to the judge, and then the judge will decide who gets what, and who pays what.
Benefits to collaborative divorce
A couple choosing a collaborative divorce process might start in mediation. In this setting, they’ll each call an attorney meant to handle collaborative divorces and then meet with a mediator.
Even if you don’t get along with your spouse, you might want to try mediation. Mediation gives you more control and prevents unwanted outcomes decided by a judge.
Pros and cons to both
Collaborative divorce can seem like a good idea, but it doesn’t always work. Even after trying a collaborative divorce process, you and your ex may still need to go to litigation – and start the entire process all over.
Each divorce pathway works differently and requires a different legal process. So it’s essential to make sure you do enough research before proceeding.