What's an Amicable divorce?
An amicable divorce means that a couple:
- will agree to the terms of their uncontested divorce rather than a judge deciding what happens to their property, spousal and child support and parenting plan;
- won’t have to go to court to battle each other;
- won’t have to hire expensive litigation attorneys;
- won’t have to wait 2 or more years to complete the process unless they choose to.
Other features of amicable divorces
are that you control how long your case takes, and whether you can work out the terms of your divorce by sitting alone together “at the kitchen table” rather than having numerous mediation sessions.
In addition, if you both choose to mediate your divorce, you may consult with a peacemaking lawyer to learn more about your rights. If you pick a mediator like Leslie Howell, whois also a divorce attorney in Pasadena, she can give you general legal information about California laws. However, a consulting lawyer will advise you in more detail about your respective rights.
Litigation vs Settlement
While litigation attorneys help high-conflict couples drag each other through the court system, an amicable divorce is voluntary and transparent. For instance, rather than conducting discovery to serve subpoenas on each other’s bank accounts, the couple must voluntarily share all banking information, statements, and other details with each other until both spouses understand their financial picture.
What are the benefits of Amicable Divorces?
Amicable divorce offers more confidentiality than a litigated (court) case. Whenever you submit a document to the court, it becomes a public record forever. In an amicable case, you can keep a lot of your information out of the public record. There is even a way to keep your final judgment with all of your settlement terms confidential. If you have the right professional(s) helping you through the process, you will be educated as to the options you have to choose from when navigating through the divorce process so that you can move forward on your terms and within your budget.
Couples who want to learn more about the amicable divorce process or divorce settlement and the cost ranges can call Amicable Divorce Services at 626-351-1200
find out how easy we make the divorce process
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ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

LESLIE HOWELL, ESQ.
Leslie earned her B.A. in 1998 and J.D. in 2001, both at the University of Southern California. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2001 and has been practicing family law ever since in areas of Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Spousal Support, and Community Property division.