Relationships are hard to nurture and maintain, and they require a lot of effort from both parties to keep them stable and alive. Marriages might require even more work, as you need to prioritize your relationship and reach a compromise over important decisions such as pre-nuptial agreements, children, and home location. Adding in the stress of a work life balance in current times of increasingly long work weeks and advanced schooling makes it genuinely difficult to sustain a healthy relationship. These issues have led researchers to discover that marriages actually only have about a 50% chance of lasting. This statistic is sad, but knowing your options for divorce advice and counsel are important for moving forward. Here are some topics you might encounter during divorce mediation, a method used to negotiate the terms and conditions of a divorce settlement in an friendly and cooperative way.

Topics To Consider in Divorce Mediation

1. Financing the actual divorce.

Divorcing your significant other is a painful time for both of you and mediating issues between you two might prove to be more difficult than you expect. Furthermore, a divorce attorney or counsel can cost a lot of money, adding to the stress, anger, and even resentment that can come from a failed relationship. In fact, in the United States, the cost of a divorce can be anywhere from $15,000 to over $42,500. This expensive range varies with respect to the amount of property and income the two of you have accrued, whether there are children in question, and other aspects of the relationship. Coming to a compromise on how the divorce will be paid for is a crucial first step in the divorce mediation process that can help mitigate future issues by opening up avenues of thoughtful communication and contributing new solutions.

2. Deciding on parenting.

Though the divorce rate among couples with children is 40% lower than couples without children, there are still plenty of divorce cases that include children. It is difficult to decide on where the children will live, how visitation will work, or if co-parenting is possible after a divorce. This means that divorce mediation is almost always required to tease apart this complicated issue. A current statistic says that 75% of children will end up living with their mother if their parents are divorced, but that means there are still approximately 25% that live with their father. Divorce mediation services will help you and your ex-partner communicate on topics such as living arrangements, educational funds and even child support. You should consider all aspects of your child’s life before making these life-changing decisions, and, if the child or children are old enough, consider including them in conversations regarding how they would like to live. Remember- this can even encompass things like where they attend school, which may affect their friendships and intellectual advancements.

3. Distributing accrued property, income and other funds.

As one entity, you and your ex-spouse have likely acquired property, perhaps in the form of a home, and probably have joint bank accounts that need to be split up. Divorce mediation can help you and your significant other determine how these funds should be allocated to each party. This will give you a starting point for how much money you might spend on the divorce process and how much money you might need to save for your own expenses. You can also estimate what your new budget might be when you have only one income. A divorce mediator can help you and your ex-partner fully understand the options you have for allocating this money and help you start your new life.

If you believe these topics will become important during a pending or upcoming divorce, consider discussing them with a divorce counsel during a divorce mediation meeting. Though this process is long and arduous, divorce services can provide empathetic counsel on difficult to discuss topics. Utilizing these services may also help you and your ex-partner communicate after the relationship is over, making it easier for others who are also impacted by the split.