to families. When parties are unable to resolve their issues amicably and must turn to court, it is probably because trust and/or communication between the parties is completely gone. In those cases, an individual with a black robe is necessary to order someone, for example, to turn over documents, pay support or visit their children. That is not good place to be, of course, but add to that the chance your judge has a full schedule and must continue your highly anticipated and necessary hearing date for maintenance or child support to a later date because another hearing took longer than expected or the judge was sick. Add to that a judge who knows nothing about why you are getting a divorce and does not want to know even though you may believe it is vitally important. The bottom line is in-court solutions take many issues out of your control and that can be a very frightening and distressing place to be. up and move forward once all is said and done. Can mediation be introduced into collaborative divorce, if so, when, and why would this occur? Yes, this can happen. The main focus of collaborative divorce is to dissolve the marriage and resolve all issues of support, parenting, and property division without resorting to the court process. So long as the parties do not turn to court to resolve any of the issues, mediation can be part of the process. The average cost of divorce in Illinois if you have children is the 14th highest in the nation at approximately $20,700. Other than costs, are there any other benefits of collaborative divorce or mediation over traditional litigation? I have mentioned the benefits of resolving a divorce outside of court earlier in this article. These points cannot be overstated when compared to what litigation does When parties are unable to resolve their issues amicably and must turn to court, it is probably because trust and/or communication between the parties is completely gone. WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM 21
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