As a spouse, you know it’s time to end your marriage, but as a parent you worry that a divorce may harm your children. This is a reasonable concern, and one that many more parents should carefully consider before serving a spouse with divorce papers. However, there’s good news for parents who worry about the effects of a divorce on children.
A traditionally litigated divorce that takes place in a courtroom can certainly present many pressures to children. This setting often encourages combative attitudes in parents, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you want to keep your divorce civil and even healthy, you should consider speaking with an attorney about divorce mediation.
With meditation, parents have the tools to achieve the divorce they need while keeping the entire process calm and professional. Rather than facing each other in a courtroom (where most things that occur become public record), mediation takes place in a neutral location where parents can work together to create a plan to end the marriage while still acting as responsible parents.
The agreements that you create in mediation are legally binding, but do not require many (or any) courtroom appearances.
Divorce can be as civil as you allow it to be
Nearly all of us have some prior experience with divorce, whether it’s in our immediate families or in the families of friends and community members. Far too often, divorces move from marriage dissolution into personal battlegrounds where spouses use the process to punish each other or pit children against a parent as a power play.
In reality, this behavior is not at all necessary. It is entirely possible for two parents who no longer wish to stay married to end the marriage while still protecting and caring for the children they both love very much.
Using divorce mediation, spouses meet together with a neutral mediator who has special training that focuses on helping both sides negotiate fairly and reach compromises that help both parties win and sacrifice.
This is especially useful when it comes to divorces involving children. Many parents find that mediation helps them remove themselves from a combative mindset and enables them to focus on what is truly best for their children.
Act now to turn heartbreak into a teachable season
As a parent, you look for opportunities to teach your children the lessons they need to lead a successful life. Divorce mediation can offer you the tools to create teachable moments throughout the divorce process as you demonstrate to your children how adults approach difficult decisions.
Do not hesitate to reach out to an experienced divorce mediator to protect your children and set the tone for your divorce. An experienced mediator can help you keep your children at the center of your divorce as you work toward a new chapter of life.