Divorce Threats: I Will See You In Court! – Court Field Trip For Divorce Mediation

By Author: Peace Talks
Total Articles: 16
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Many people exclaim, "I will see you in court!" without knowing exactly what that means. Whether it's in divorce mediation or around the kitchen table, they don't like what they're hearing. They’re in the heat of the moment, so they exclaim, “I'm done with this!" However, they don’t realize that saying "no" ultimately means they’re saying "yes" to something else, which involves the particular settlement process they’re engaged in and can affect post divorce issues.

Taking in mind the aforementioned example, know that before you choose litigation, there are some things you should know.

Many clients in California think they're going to get the Atticus Finch style representation; the kind of court style infamously seen in To Kill a Mockingbird and not have to deal with any post divorce issues. However, the truth of the matter is that you’re lucky if you even get 10 minutes to state your case in a divorce court proceeding.

A less expensive and time-consuming divorce alternative is mediation, which also lets you express your whole story. With that said, don’t think of me as some self-interested ...
... Southern California divorce mediator who wants to drum up business, (although I suppose I am). Instead, know that I'm also interested in helping people get divorced while keeping their sanity and not losing their shirt simultaneously. Think of mediators, like me for example, as moderators who will produce the fairest result in your own divorce situation while keeping a reasoned debate and make post divorce issues as less complicated as possible.
Since the recession began, California has closed entire courthouses. In Los Angeles County, there's a monthly furlough day, which is mandatory. This means that there's no court staff and the courthouse is closed.

In addition, these built-in delays happen BEFORE you are likely to get two sentences plus a pile of paperwork to hand the judge, excluding the post divorce issues that would need attention. And then, your “hearing” is over. Therefore, in Los Angeles County, over 41,000 couples have to go through this divorce process every year. Are you having a hard time believing these facts about divorce court? Continue reading, and maybe then you’ll be convinced!

If you need to see for yourself, take a field trip at the court! The court is free and open to the public.

Court Field Trip:
Many couples feel like court would be a better option for resolving some of their divorce or impasse issues during different points of a divorce mediation session, as well as post divorce issues. Before a final decision is made as to whether court would be a good option for you, we suggest that you visit a court. More specifically, take a trip to the Superior Court at 111 N. Hill Street, 2nd floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (or your local courthouse if you're not in Los Angeles) and see for yourself what happens in the family courtrooms. Before you make the final choice of whether you should go to court or choose mediation as the vehicle to navigate your divorce and post divorce issues, we think it makes sense for you to have all the information. Then you can determine which presents the best choice for you.

A fairly bleak picture of the litigation process is Peace-Talks. It paints the pros and cons of using divorce court to resolve your dispute. Peace-Talks is based on a considerable amount of family law experiences, but don’t feel the need to rely on our version. See for yourself by going to the courthouse. All court files and divorce proceedings are public record. This means that you can look up anyone’s file in the filing room (room 112), or sit in on anyone’s divorce case in any of the family courtrooms (most are on the 2nd floor in the downtown Los Angeles courthouse).

You can observe the litigants, lawyers, bailiffs and judges if you visit the courthouse. By doing so, you can see and feel what the court experience might be like for your divorce process, divorce settlement, and post-divorce issues. This could help you decide if going to court instead of mediation is the right choice. You can get an idea of the length in time a judge has to hear each case. You may also have the opportunity to see the length in time the litigants have to speak to the judge, in addition to their lawyers and the other party.

By visiting the courthouse, you can see how the amount of attention the court proceedings give to individuals’ goals, values, common interests, and creative non-judicial solutions in regards to child support, visitation and parenting plan mediation and administration. After having seen all of this, we think that you’ll agree with Peace-Talk’s mediation service. However, even if your immediate decision is to side with divorce mediation, it’s important that you witness the Los Angeles divorce court for yourself.

Diana Mercer- Divorce Attorney Los Angeles and founder of Peace Talks Divorce Mediators - provides Parenting Plans, Co parenting mediation and parenting support. Peace-Talks help to take decision during Divorce mediation process and also help to divorce child Custody.