Adversarial Divorce – Do You Know Its Implication?
Adversarial divorce is a court proceeding used to dissolve a marriage. During an adversarial divorce, each party to the divorce is represented by their own lawyer. The judge grants the divorce and makes the decisions about the marital assets and child custody. Many times, one or both parties to the divorce are not happy about the judge's decision. Sometimes, the case ends up back in court when one of the parties decide to contest the court's decision.
Adversarial divorce is relatively uncommon. Most divorces are uncontested divorces. However, it is the messy, emotionally charged, high profile adversarial divorces that get media attention. Therefore, the public tends to overestimate the frequency of adversarial divorces.
There are several disadvantages to adversarial divorce. First of all is the enormous cost of the legal fees. Each party must pay their lawyer each time the lawyer spends time working on the case. They must pay every time they meet with their lawyer. These fees often add up to thousands of dollars for an adversarial divorce.
Adversarial divorces take time. They take much more time than a typical uncontested divorce. The parties wait for a court date. They take time to present their cases. If there is a problem, the case may need to be continued. Then, the parties will wait again. With an adversarial divorce, the parties have little control over the length of the proceedings or the time spent waiting.
An adversarial divorce is recommended when one spouse is dominating the other spouse during attempts to reach an agreement towards an uncontested divorce. If there is a history of domestic violence, an adversarial divorce will probably be in the best interest of the victimized party. If both parties have attempted to reach an agreement but failed to do so, they may opt for an adversarial divorce.
Although adversarial divorce is sometimes a necessity, it is rarely a satisfying process. The court costs can be staggering. The time spent waiting can be frustrating. The anger and frustration generated by an adversarial divorce can cause more conflict between the two parties. It is almost like adding fuel to the fire to an already strained relationship. If the parties to the divorce have children, they have the challenge of coming to terms with these emotions and working together to raise children. Negotiating the terms of the divorce in an amicable manner with or without a mediator would be much more conducive to preserving the relationship that divorced parents need to have in order to work together for the benefit of their children.
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