If you are facing a divorce in Texas, you probably recognize that mediation is a great option. Mediation is obviously less expensive than going to court, but it also allows you and your divorcing spouse to remain in the driver’s seat. While divorce is always difficult, most couples are more comfortable making their own difficult decisions rather than allowing a judge to make them. Further, mediation allows you to keep your divorce and your private business private, which is a deciding factor for many divorcing couples.
Keeping Your Divorce Private
Divorce is a difficult process in which couples have to share much of their private lives, including their finances and their personal lifestyles. While keeping the details of one’s divorce private used to be a mainstay only of the rich and famous, it is becoming more and more important for average couples to protect their privacy.
If your divorce proceeds to trial, there is very little you can do to keep the information revealed in court private, and that information can reach your family, friends, children, acquaintances, and even your employer and the people you work with. In a world in which social media has blurred the boundaries between our private lives and our shared experiences, it is nice to know that you can keep your divorce private by going through the mediation process. At mediation, a neutral third party will help you and your divorcing spouse come to mutually acceptable decisions in a completely private space.
Child Custody Arrangements
If you are going through a divorce, you are facing major decisions on three very important matters than include:
- The child custody arrangements that you and your ex will share
- Your Child support arrangements
- How your marital property will be divided
- Your spousal support arrangements
If you have children, your primary concern is naturally your child custody arrangements. After all, this determines which parent will be the primary custodial parent (the one with whom the children primarily live) and the other parent’s visitation schedule.
You obviously want what is best for your children, and nobody knows your children – and what their personal needs are – better than you do. While the court’s goal is always to put the best interests of the children first, the judge must base his or her decisions on the limited information he or she gathers in the course of your divorce. If you and your spouse can hammer out child custody arrangements between yourselves, it is the best path forward for all involved, including your shared children.