Name |
Description |
Best
Used For |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Legal Separation |
Separated by law, but not yet divorced |
- Couple does not want to finalize divorce
- 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, sometimes by purchase of divorce kits. Spouses can complete them, and pay the
filing fee. |
- Couples with few disputes
- Couples with few assets and those easily divisible
- Childless couples
|
|
- May make legal mistakes
- May make financial errors calculating maintenance or
division of property & debt llocation
- Dont have anyone on your side, attorney or financial
planner.
|
Mediation |
Couple uses a mediator to help 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 |
- Couple retains a single attorney to file for divorce for
both.
- 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 attorney, the other does not
- Not appropriate if spouse becomes difficult
|
Traditional |
- Each side has an attorney
- May or may not be adversarial
- Includes Requests for information, required status
conferences and negotiating
|
- Situations where spouse is difficult, non-cooperative
|
- Someone completely on your side
- Expert confidential legal advice
- Most comfortable, and conservative approach
|
- Can be adversarial
- Can be expensive
- Is not always a cooperative experience
- May become a longer process
|
Collaborative |
A fairly new approach to divorce.
- Each side has attorney
- Each side has access to specialists (therapists, divorce
planners, etc.)
- All professionals have been trained in collaborative process
- All agree to collaboration and working together to resolve
issues
- If this fails, the attorneys drop out, and the spouses
retain other counsel and may go to the traditional divorce method or other method
|
- Couples with significant assets, and disputes, but who are
willing to go through mediation-type process divorce
|
- Less expensive than a traditional contested
- May be more productive
- Each party has a person looking out for their best interests
|
- Can be more costly than some other methods
- Not appropriate if spouse becomes very difficult,
intractable
- If process breaks down, spouses may need to get different
attorneys
|