It is no doubt divorce is painful, expensive, and can be very messy. Quitting a marriage is one of the toughest decisions you can ever make in life. You can potentially lose many aspects of your life, such as family relationships, home, financial security, partnership, and future plans.
You may not realize that quitting is one of the many important decisions you’re going to make. The next thing is deciding how you are going to get the divorce done.
How to Choose a Divorce Option
Divorce is unique to every affected couple. While one option could work well for your friend, it could fail terribly for you.
The following factors can affect the choice of your divorce option:
- The complexity of your situation. This includes years of marriage, children, co-owned property, income, and employment status.
- The quality of outcome/ agreement you desire.
- Relationship dynamics between the couple
- Power and fairness
- Cost
- How much stress you can stand
- Speed
- Professional assistant- whether you want a divorce attorney Spokane to walk you through the journey or do it yourself.
The 4 Divorce Options
1. Divorce Mediation
A neutral third party (mediator) experienced at conflict resolution is involved here. The mediator will help you and your spouse identify relevant issues, educate you on how they affect you, and guide you through negotiating an agreement that is unique to your children’s needs and interests.
2. Do-it-yourself Divorce
The spouses identify issues at hand, discuss them and come to an agreement, then draft the paperwork and file the divorce at the courts. A divorce attorney in Spokane is, however, not involved at any point. It requires high emotional intelligence, trust, compromise, and willingness to work together. It takes a few weeks to months for the divorce to actualize, and you’ll only pay the court and paperwork fees.
3. Internet Divorce
It works similar to the do-it-yourself divorce, only that issues are identified through a software program or on the web. A website interviews them on questions that they will answer before they come to an agreement.
It is the website’s role to fill out the paperwork, which the couple will print out and sign before submitting it to the courts. Some internet Divorce systems will give you the help of a divorce attorney in Spokane to guide you.
4. Traditional Divorce
In this divorce, each spouse hires a lawyer to represent them and help them achieve a favorable outcome. First, a court will appoint a mediator who will discuss an amicable agreement with you, your spouse, and divorce attorney Spokane.
If you don’t agree, you’ll proceed to court sessions which are stressful with a lot of arguing, high cost, long waiting time, and no control. Depending on the situation’s complexity, this process could take between 18 months and three years or even longer.
Final Thoughts
It is normal to feel overwhelmed by a divorce process. Your choice will depend on the situation at hand and your and your spouse’s preparedness. The time you put at the beginning of this daunting process will determine the outcome for you and your kids if any.