Only There are lots of good reasons to use arbitration rather than go to court. It's fast and efficient, the rules that govern the process are extremely flexible, it's confidential and private, and you get to pick a judge who is an expert in not just family law but the aspects of the law that are the most important in your case. There are, however, only a few circumstances that make arbitration a necessary choice over mediation, collaborative negotiation, or litigation. Typically, a couple people will choose arbitration to arbitrate their dispute if:

*#they wish want the laws of their religion or another set of legal, moral or ethical principles to apply to their dispute,;*#their positions are too far apart to make negotiation or mediation a reasonable choice option and must have a decision made for them, but don't want to go to the expense, anxiety, and acrimony typically involved in going to court,;*#they want to resolve their dispute discreetly and privately, and don't want to risk their personal business being made public,;*#the legal issues are complex and require demand a decision-maker who is a specialist in those issues; or, or*#they want their dispute resolved more quickly than the court schedule will allow.

It's important to understand that while arbitrators can make awards on all of the usual family law issues, like — including parenting arrangements, contact, child support, spousal support, and the division of property and debt, — arbitrators cannot make awards on certain issues that can only be decided by a judge. These include:

*#divorce orders and annulments, ;*#orders appointing someone as the guardian of a child who is not a parent of that child, ;*#declarations about who is, and who is not, the parent of a child, unless the declaration is necessary to resolve an issue that is within the arbitrator's jurisdiction; and,*#orders changing the order of a judge.