When divorce negotiations about property division, child custody, child
support, and other related issues have come at an impasse, mediation is
a process which attempts to help disagreeing parities seek a compromise
and or come to an agreement prior to the finalization of divorce.
Statisically, 93-96% of all family law cases settle before trial, so it’s
only a matter of time when it will all be over. However, Professor John
Wade of Bond University (Queensland, Australia) proposes there are a variety
of costs involved in settling later in the process rather than sooner.
The following costs of mediation include:
- Attorney fees
- Accountant fees
- Interest lost on money received later rather than sooner
- 1-2 years of personal stress and uncertainty
- 1-2 years of stress on family members
- 1-2 years of stress on others and work associates
- 1-10 weeks of absenteeism from work
- 1-3 years of lost concentration and focus on work
- Life/business on hold for 1-2 years
- Inability to “move on with life” for 1-4 years
- Negative publicity in press/business circle
If resolution is decided by litigation, the following additional costs
may be added to what’s stated above:
- 1-5 weeks of lost employee time preparing for court
- Embarrassment and loss of goodwill when relatives/friends/business associates
are subpoenaed to court
- Expert witness fees
- Loss of control over your life to professionals
- Post-litigation recriminations against court, experts and lawyers
-
Loss of value by court-orders sale/appointment of receiver, etc.
- Lost future goodwill with and “paybacks” by opponents
- Cos and repeat of all previous factors if there is an appeal
Family law clients must understand that their “best case scenario”
is unlikely to be the result of litigation. If one party comes out of
court victorious on every issue, the other party will most likely appeal.
Trying to accomplish this type of success will be a slow process and come
at a great cost.
For more information,
contact our Irvine divorce attorney today.