When you decide to divorce your spouse, you will have a few options for how to move forward with your case. Two of the options include collaboratively working together to resolve the divorce settlement and other issues with your case or litigating to take the case to court.
In collaborative law cases, both parties work together to resolve their divorce-related issues. Both spouses cooperate together to end the marriage without litigating in court. This can be a more private method of ending your marriage, but it’s not the perfect solution for everyone. In many cases, those who do not want to negotiate or work with the other spouse will make collaboration impossible.
Litigation is different because you’re preparing for a trial. You’ll build up your own case to present to the judge. For example, if you want custody of your children, you’ll set up your own custody schedule and provide evidence showing why your choices are better for them than what your spouse is asking for.
With litigation, you’re preparing your side of the case while asking that a judge makes the final decision about what you should take away from the marriage in terms of your divorce settlement, custody issues or spousal support. You’re leaving your case in the judge’s hands.
When is litigation appropriate?
Although some people want to avoid litigation, it can be a helpful way to finalize a divorce in a case where a spouse doesn’t want to negotiate or is trying to prevent the divorce from moving forward out of spite. It’s better for people who want to be more aggressive and seek more out of the marriage.
Litigation is also appropriate in cases where there is domestic abuse or allegations of wrongdoing, so that those issues may also be addressed by the family court.
If you want to fight for what you deserve out of your divorce and your spouse isn’t being reasonable, litigation may be the appropriate path forward. This is something to discuss as you learn more about the law and how to protect your interests, because you deserve to know all of your options before you go to court.