Divorce in BC and the Role of Mediators
by admin - October 14th, 2011.Filed under: Divorce in BC.
A BC divorce can result in years of court appearances and running from one court hall to the other, if the divorce application is contested by either spouse. This is the case in most divorces across the world. So, the best way to resolve such divorce conflicts is to seek the professional services of a mediator who will help in resolving the issues as swiftly as possible and with the minimal of confrontation between the spouses. This alternative divorce format is most useful when the conflicts seem very difficult to be resolved between the spouses. How about mutually consented divorce applications would they require a mediator too?
No, an uncontested divorce would imply that there are no contentious issues between the spouses. Hence issues which are of great concern like the custody of children, child support and spousal support is already resolved between the estranged couple. Divorce in Canada on mutual consent would therefore mean that both spouses agree to be divorced without objections.
Sometimes, some of the important issues may remain unresolved even after several mutual discussions between the husband and the wife. Then a mediator needs to be hired to help them to resolve these thorny issues. This implies that there are additional costs as well as extra investment of time and energy. For the mediator will have to be visited at least once a week or twice a month. This will mean rescheduling according to both spouses’ availability of time. The old wounds of the marriage will have to be revisited to arrive at a conclusion. Thus the costs of the BC divorce using a mediator will far exceed the costs of a divorce without such mediation services, as is the case in other parts of the world also.
Every time the neutral party will start to negotiate on an issue, there is emotional upheaval. Considering the dynamics of emotions behind the issues of child custody or rights to access the child, the channels of communication are going to burn down. Then this will mean greater number of visits to the mediator and incurring additional expenses. Thus divorce in Canada will have to be resolved through a mediator if there are contentious issues because seeking recourse from the court is going to be long drawn.
Thus the role of the neutral party will incur additional costs. Besides the neutral party is going to remain professional and going to negotiate hard with both the spouses to arrive at a solution especially if the issue is custody of the child or the access rights to the child. When the arbitrator or the mediator is going to realize it is just the egos of the spouses that is stopping them from arriving at a decision, he is going to be very professional and ensure that the spouses realize where the bone of contention lies. Therefore, both spouses will be emotionally dissatisfied with the whole process. But as the mediator is going to help them resolve the issues and perhaps a breakthrough in the financial aspects, the couple will believe the mediator is a savior. Instead the couple could have been pragmatic and realized that the issues should be resolved amicably, giving respect to a relationship they had once shared.
Hence, BC divorce, will become expensive when a mediator is involved. Hence, couples opting for a mutual divorce can minimize their costs, if they use the services of an online lawyer who would prepare the required divorce papers according to the province from which the couple are applying. All this would be at almost one-fourth the costs of hiring a lawyer to prepare the documents. Hence the couple needs to make decisions that will help them save money.