Four Ways Divorce Mediation Saves Money in a New Jersey Marriage Dissolution Case

If you are like most people considering a New Jersey marriage dissolution case, among your concerns very likely is the expenses associated with divorce. There are steps you can take that do have the potential of reducing the overall costs of a New Jersey divorce proceeding. One such step or tactic is to take advantage of divorce mediation.

There are four primary ways in which divorce mediation can work to reduce the costs associated with your New Jersey marriage dissolution case:

• Eliminate the need for a costly divorce trial
• Reduce the need for different pre-trial hearings
• Reduce the amount of overall time spent on a case by legal counsel
• Decrease the amount of money expended on communication between attorneys

Eliminate the Need for Divorce Trial

A primary way in which divorce mediation can save money in a marriage dissolution proceeding is that it can permit a trial to be avoided. The bottom line is that getting ready for a divorce trial can be a costly process. In addition, undertaking a trial itself also runs up attorney fees.

Thanks to mediation in a divorce case, odds are enhanced significantly that the parties to a marriage dissolution will reach a settlement. When a settlement is reached, a divorcing couple can avoid the time, expense, and drama of a trial. Parties to a divorce can get on their way to living their lives beyond their marriage.

Reduce the Need for Hearings

Divorce mediation is also helpful in reducing the costs associated with different types of hearings that might otherwise be necessary in a New Jersey marriage dissolution proceeding. In the absence of mediation, and if direct negotiations between the parties is not completely effective, a divorce case may involve a range of different types of hearings to address various issues. For example, there may be hearings on issues that include:

• Child custody
• Child support
• Property division and debt distribution
• Other issues unique to a particular case

Each time one of these hearings, attorney fees are expended both in preparation for and in preparation at a hearing conducted in a divorce proceeding.

Decrease Amount of Money Expended on Attorney-to-Attorney Communication

When it comes to attorney fees in a New Jersey divorce case, a considerable amount of billable time is expended in regard to communication between attorneys involved in a marriage dissolution proceeding. An important reality associated with marriage dissolution mediation is that a successful mediation process notches down the amount of time lawyers will spend negotiating a resolution of a case. Indeed, the reduction in the amount of money spent on attorney-to-attorney communication in a divorce case in which mediation was utilized can prove to be significant. As an aside, and as is noted elsewhere, successful mediation also reduces the amount of time expended in the marriage dissolution process. Time also has significant value to a couple seeking to end their marriage.

Reduce the Overall Amount of Attorney Time Spend on Case

In addition to saving money on hearings, a trial, and communication between legal counsel, mediation also has the propensity for reducing other costs associated with a marriage dissolution proceeding. As has been alluded to a moment ago, mediation is designed to reduce the amount of time a divorce proceeding takes. This time reduction by its very nature results in the expenditure of less money in attorney fees.

Medication also lessens other types of losses as well. For example, the longer a marriage dissolution case goes on, the more money a party to a divorce case is apt to lose in the form of such things as wages.

Call the Law Offices of Peter Van Aulen at (201) 845-7400.

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