Tips For Increasing Your Chances For A Successful Divorce Mediation For Property
Posted on: 19 November 2014
If you and your spouse are going through a divorce, you both may decide to try going through mediation to discuss the division of your marital property before taking your case to court. Use the tips below to prepare yourself beforehand to increase your chances of being successful.
Write Everything Down
Before you go to the meeting, you should have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish during the mediation proceedings. One way to do this is to sit down with a piece of paper and write everything down. This will give you a logical, tangible reference to refer to, even if emotions start to run high.
Divide a piece of paper into three columns. In the first column, list items that you will not budge on. In the second column, list items that are open to negotiation. Finally, in the third column, list items that you are willing to let go of.
For example, you may be adamant about keeping your car, so it belongs in the first column. If you have some land together but would be willing to discuss its division, write it down in the second column. If you have furniture that you would be willing to give to your spouse, you can list these in the third column.
Gather Copies Of Paperwork
Once you have written out your lists, you should gather copies of any paperwork that supports your claim on items that you want. These could convince your former spouse or the mediator that your desire to keep them is warranted.
For example, if you want to keep the car, you would need to obtain copies of any payments you personally made on it. This is especially important if you made the majority of the payments. It would show that you were primarily responsible for it and therefore should retain ownership.
For the division of the land, you may want to take copies of any improvements you paid for, as well as mortgage payments. Even if you only paid for half of the bills, this could help you receive the same percentage from the sale as you paid into it.
After going through mediation, you and your spouse may have differences that require you to go to court. If so, you may want to discuss the case with a family law attorney so that they can advise you on your next best course of action.
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