You’ve hired a lawyer, you’ve attended mediation sessions, and you and your spouse have drafted a divorce agreement. Now it’s time to sign that agreement – but are you sure you’re ready to put pen to paper?
Signing your mediated divorce agreement and establishing final orders on property division, custody, child support, and other topics is a big step. These decisions can affect you – and your loved ones – far into the future.
Before you sign your agreement, consider investing in mediation review. Mediation review involves getting a second opinion from a different law firm or legal professional about the quality of your divorce agreement.
Here are some reasons why you may want to invest in mediation review services from a trusted law firm:
To Clarify Legal Jargon
Family law terms like “exclusive possession” and “sole custody” have strict legal definitions but may mean different things to non-lawyers who are not well-versed in legal jargon. Since you are not a trained attorney, you might overlook certain aspects of your proposed agreement without realizing the impact they could have on your post-divorce life. By hiring a lawyer to look over your divorce agreement, you can sign it with confidence and a clear understanding of the unfamiliar legal terms.
To Ensure It Meets Your Needs
In many mediated divorces, people feel pressure to make compromises they don’t necessarily like just to wrap up the divorce quickly or to save money on attorney’s fees. This is a common and understandable feeling, but consider the impact a less-than-ideal compromise could have on your future. You shouldn’t compromise on something just because you feel like you have to.
When you hire a lawyer to review your mediated divorce agreement, you can explain to them your needs, your goals, and your concerns about the document. Your attorney may be able to improve the agreement to better reflect your needs and prevent you from agreeing to something out of peer pressure.
To Ensure You Are Not Overpaying or Under-Receiving Support Payments
If your mediated divorce agreement includes provisions about child support or alimony payments, you’ll want to be certain that you are receiving the full amount you deserve or paying only what is fair. Get a second opinion from a knowledgeable lawyer to make sure the support amounts calculated in your agreement are accurate.
Seek Mediation Review Services from Alternative Divorce Solutions
It never hurts to seek a second opinion – especially for something as important as a divorce agreement. At Alternative Divorce Solutions, we offer mediation review to clients who mediated a divorce agreement with a different law firm. Our attorneys can carefully read through the draft of your agreement and provide our thoughtful and reliable advice as to whether it reflects your best interests and how it can be improved.
Learn more about the benefits of mediation review by calling us at 949-368-2121.