Divorce mediation has been increasingly more popular as more and more people learn about this cost-effective alternative to a contentious, drawn-out legal battle to end their marriages.
Done properly mediation can indeed save you time and money; but a botched settlement agreement can set the occasion for years-long continued regret and/or post-divorce litigation regarding contempt matters or modifications. You need to protect yourself against schemes and traps that are all too common during divorce negotiations.
While it may indeed be true that your spouse doesn’t show up with a lawyer in tow to your mediation sessions, you often have no way of knowing who is advising him or her on proposals and “concessions” behind the scenes. Whether he/she is listening to a qualified divorce attorney or an aggressive social justice advocate, he/she may be putting terms into the agreement that could bind you in ways that you did not expect.
Any divorce settlement must ultimately be approved by a Judge, but Judges don’t always have the time to parse out every single detail to make sure the agreement is fair and equitable for both parties. And ordinary terms may have a different meaning when later litigated should a problem arise post-divorce. The only way to be sure that you know what you are signing and all the foreseeable issues that may arise as a result is to have an attorney review any agreements or proposed settlement offers and advise you and the risks and benefits of each before submitting them to the Court.
Hirsch Legal LLC has years of experience navigating Connecticut’s divorce and family law system. Our principal attorney, Carmina K. Hirsch, is well-versed at sorting through a divorce settlement and laying out any legal implications you need to know before you sign on the dotted line.
Review counsel services are generally provided according to a lower retainer than a litigated divorce, with the expectation and understanding that with this limited scope of representation there is no obligation that we will represent you before the Court in any proceeding. We serve clients in Fairfield County and New Haven County courts – New Haven, Bridgeport, Milford, Danbury, and Stamford.