One Mediation

Spouses, sometimes sooner rather than later, find out that court proceedings rarely move quickly or have any
consideration for their schedules. Stop by a court and you will hear cases that are years and years old and also
find that proceedings are routinely "rescheduled." That phrase about "all dressed up with nowhere to go" is
often true when courts reschedule trials - remember that the criminal cases get preference over civil matters
like divorce.

And, frankly, the longer the court delay, the greater the likelihood that sparring spouses will work things out on
their own - either because they don't want to wait any longer or enough time has elapsed that the spouses are
ready to lay down their arms and move on with their lives. Mediation, on the other hand, is scheduled at your
convenience and proceeds as quickly or as slowly as the parties desire.

For parents who are separating or divorcing, their children's needs can't wait "that long" even if the parents are
not yet ready to end their conflict. Children need answers to feel safe and secure. Parents usually can work out
some of the major issues in which their children have an interest - such as where they will go to school, where
they will sleep, and where their "stuff" will be. Mediation is a great place to discuss and work through these
issues and also how these decisions will be communicated to the children.

Where parting spouses are able to work out their own agreement about their break-up, they set themselves up
for filing an uncontested divorce. Attorneys often have a relatively cheap rate for uncontested divorces -
usually under $750.00! When compared to what it will take to hire even one spouse's attorney that involves
significant sparring, the retainer amount for one attorney easily can be a down-payment of $3,500.00, and
that amount may be just the start. Mediation provides a process where parting spouses may be able to resolve
many of their issues without paying significant legal fees. Many spouses will mediate several times during the
course of their separation and divorce - either because they needed additional information in order to make
decisions, they were not yet certain that they were willing to agree to a certain term, or some other concern
has lifted that permits the parents to move on.

Parting spouses have many resources available to them in order to do a "do-it-yourself divorce." Where parting
spouses have reached a comprehensive agreement about their separation, sometimes they attempt to file the
divorce petition on their own. Several Georgia courts have provided very detailed information on how to file
for divorce "on your own." Some of those sites are listed below:

Fulton County
DeKalb County
Cobb County
Clayton County
Gwinnett County
Retirement and QDRO