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→Introduction
A number of studies have shown that mediation and collaborative negotiation processes produce agreements that are better for both parties and better for the children, and that last longer than the results of litigation. Mediation and collaborative negotiation can help people work through their separate emotional issues and result in an agreement that isn't so much a legal contract as it is a moral contract. Parents especially tend to deal with each other, and with their children, with a lot less rancour following a mediated or collaborative resolution of their problems rather than a litigated resolution.
Litigation is sometimes necessary, even when people are capable of engaging in a less antagonistic dispute resolution process, including when:
#when someone threatens to flee with a child;#when there's a history of family violence, or where abuse seems imminent; and,#when someone is threatening to do something rash with family property.
However, when litigation is provoked by the emotions arising from the end of the relationship and isn't really necessary, you can run into some serious and expensive problems you may not expect.