Divorce Mediation & Your Financials

This article was last updated: Nov. 1st, 2022

Today’s modern divorce is business centered. While the care and custody of a child are of utmost importance to most parents, many recognize that the financial aspect of divorce is vitally important to their family’s financial future. To protect family finances and to stay in control of how assets are divided, many couples today opt for divorce mediation instead of battling it out in the courtroom. Divorce mediation is cost-effective and lets you and your spouse negotiate an agreement without a judge deciding for you. A judge will ultimately have to review and approve your separation agreement, but a skilled mediator can work to ensure your agreement is fair and in accordance with Massachusetts family law statues. Your financials are a critical component of several aspects of a divorce, including child support, alimony, and the equitable distribution of marital assets and debts.

If you’ve chosen mediation as an alternative to litigation, you’ve made a prudent choice. Divorce mediation can be more efficient than divorce litigation, and it leaves you in control of your finances. With the assistance of a skilled divorce mediator, both spouses work out an agreement on how to divide up the marital property and debts, the amount and duration of any alimony ordered, and the child support calculation. A lot of information and documentation is needed to work through these complex issues. You will submit this information to your spouse and the mediator during your mediation sessions. Then, both spouses come to the mediation equipped to hash out the details. While mediation is certainly more efficient than litigation, divorce financials can still take some extra time to work through. Child support can be easily calculated, and unless you or your spouse wants to request a deviation from the basic calculated amount, you may need to simply fill out the worksheet using the guidelines.

Other divorce financials that must be addressed in mediation include alimony requests and the division of marital property and debts. These are both commonly disputed issues. To successfully work through these issues during divorce mediation, you will need to come prepared to go over in detail your financial standing. Typically, you will need to come with your last year’s tax return, a few months of pay stubs, a recent mortgage statement, a few months of utility and phone bills, recent statements from all your standing bank accounts, investment accounts, and debts, and an itemization of all your assets. You will be providing all this information in your financial statement, which is required when you submit your separation agreement.

Divorce mediation is particularly well suited for dealing with complex divorce financials. If you hire attorneys and leave the matter to the court to decide, you and your spouse could end up unhappy with the outcome. With mediation, you are much more in control of the outcome. With the assistance of a skilled divorce mediator, you and your spouse can work out an agreement on all your divorce financials in an efficient and amicable way.

If you have questions or concerns about handling your finances in your divorce, Mediation Advantage Services can assist you. Experienced in divorce mediation, Law Office of Polly Tatum can help you efficiently mediate your divorce, saving you the cost of litigation and leaving you in control of your financial future. Based in historic Worcester, our firm serves all cities and towns throughout Massachusetts and Worcester County including, Auburn, Paxton, Leicester, Sutton, Grafton, Shrewsbury, Westboro, Northboro, Southboro, Holden, Sterling, Princeton, Worcester, Charlton, Millbury, Dudley, Spencer, Brookfield, Sudbury, Natick, Framingham, Hopkinton, Milford, Blackstone, Leominster, Fitchburg, Acton, Jefferson, Barre, Oakham, Cambridge, Newton, Marlboro, Lancaster, Bolton, and Hudson. Call our office at (774) 366-3711, fill out our online form, today to schedule your Complimentary Mediation Success Planning Session. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter or download our free guide for more information regarding divorce in Massachusetts.