Name
|
Description
|
Best Used For
|
Advantages
|
Disadvantages
|
Separation
|
Separated, but not
divorced.
|
- Couple does not want
to divorce for
religious or other
reasons
- Can have child
support, maintenance,
and property
settlement
|
- Gives children and
spouse time to adjust
- Gives couple time to
settle property
- May retain health
insurance
|
- May prolong
process
- May be more
expensive
- "New life" may not
be possible
|
Pro-Se
|
Divorces filed
without the
assistance of an
attorney.
|
- Couples with few
disputes
- Couples with few
assets – and those
easily divisible
- Childless couples
|
|
- May make legal
mistakes
- May make
financial errors
calculating support
or division of
property & debt
allocation
- No professional
help on legal,
financial or
emotional issues
|
Mediation
|
Couple uses a
mediator to help
voluntarily settle
disputes over issues.
voluntarily settle
disputes over issues.
Mediator may help
draw up paperwork.
Mediator may or
may not be an
attorney.
|
- Couples who have
issues to settle, but
nothing that has to
go to court
|
- Can be less
expensive than
traditional method
- Neutral third party,
experienced in
mediation - Less
adversarial
|
- No one
completely "on
your side"
- Not appropriate if
spouse becomes
difficult
- May need to
resort to
traditional divorce
- Either party (or
both) may decide
to retain attorney
- Even if mediator is
an attorney, each
may need review
of paperwork by
separate attorney
(QDROs, etc.)
|
Single
Attorney for
Couple
|
One spouse retains a
single attorney to file
for divorce.
All paperwork
completed and filed
by attorney.
Note: Ethically,
attorney may only
represent one party.
|
- Reasonable,
amicable divorces
|
- Less expensive than
2 attorneys
- Less adversarial
- Can be a fairly quick
process
|
- One party has the
benefit of legal
advice, the other
does not
- Not appropriate if
divorce becomes
difficult
|
Traditional
|
Each spouse has
their own attorney.
|
- Situations where
spouse is difficult,
non-cooperative
- Divorce has legal
issues that require
expert advice
|
- Someone completely
on your side
- Expert confidential
legal advice
- Traditional approach
|
- Can be adversarial
- Can be expensive
- Is not always a
cooperative
experience
- May become a
longer process
- Can destroy the
emotional and
financial facets of
the family
|
Collaborative
|
Each side has
attorney.
Each side has access
to or is required to
use other specialists
(coaches, child
coaches, financial
experts, etc.).
All professionals
have been trained in
collaborative process.
All agree to
collaboration and
work together to
resolve issues.
If this fails, all
professionals
withdraw, and the
spouses retain other
counsel -- and
professionals -- and
may go to the
traditional divorce
method or other
method.
|
- Couples who wish
to keep divorce
private and avoid the
loss of control over
their family and
money in open court.
|
- Less expensive than
a traditional contested
- May be more
productive
- Each party has a
person looking out
for their best interests
|
- Not appropriate if
spouse becomes
very difficult.
- If process breaks
down, spouses
will need to retain
new attorneys
|
