Maryland and Washington, DC, Metro Area Attorney Handles Divorce Mediation
It is a rare divorce that does not involve some conflict. Even when spouses think they understand or agree on how best to divide property and create workable parenting plans for minor children, disagreements typically arise along the way. Child custody, alimony and business ownership issues are areas where conflict often comes about despite intentions to resolve a divorce in a fair and timely manner.
However rational two people try to be when their marriage is breaking up, hard feelings can cloud reason all too easily. An objective, pragmatic family law attorney is an invaluable source of knowledge and counsel tailored to specific family circumstances. The choice of a dispute resolution process is also important.
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. recommends collaborative divorce or divorce mediation in order to save time, money and aggravation. Mediation may occur between the divorcing spouse alone with a mediator with or without counsel or may consist of meetings between the parties and their lawyers without a third party mediator.
Divorce mediation can even be important healing process, setting the tone for separating parents to collaborate intelligently on the one issue that they agree matters greatly: their children's welfare in a divorced family environment.
Litigation and courtroom trials emphasize and magnify conflict. Mediation, on the other hand, emphasizes cooperation and mutual benefit. While divorce is by nature a lose-lose proposition, divorce mediation seeks out those win-win windows of opportunity. For example, divorcing couples can plan and craft decisions that will keep as many marital monetary assets in the "family" and away from tax authorities (state and federal).
When mediation is the dispute resolution method, divorcing individuals or couples can maintain control over their own future and their children's future, rather than giving that power to a judge who will lack the intimate knowledge of a family's lifestyles. Parties to mediation (the divorcing couple) end up with an agreed-upon customized child custody, visitation and child support plan in place than are part.
Mediation brings distinct advantages to settlement negotiations. People who are invested in the mediation process and have a sense of ownership of the outcome are much more likely to abide by such an agreement than those who have had a result imposed upon them by a family law court.
Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. represents many clients who participate successfully in the mediation process. We have been called upon by other lawyers to serve as private mediators for their cases and, in addition, have been appointed by local courts to mediate family matters. Contact Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. regarding family law mediation.
