What are the Benefits of Choosing an Uncontested Divorce?
This is an excellent question and there are several, but the main one:
Cost.
It’s going to be a lot less money- for you both, to go through an uncontested divorce rather than litigate the process.
Another great benefit is Speed: in a contested divorce you must first go to an alternative dispute resolution process (ie, Mediation), before you even get to court. And they there are court dates, sometimes many, meaning that unfortunately, the process can drag on- sometimes for years. This takes a significant toll, not not only on each spouses’ wallet, but potentially on their emotional well-being, perhaps spiritual health, job performance, and so on. This is not to mention the impact that a drawn out process can have on any children, or relatives, even friends and co-workers. Calling a spouse’s work when a court has not ruled your way at your latest court date would seem to be off limits but, I have seen it happen, more than once.
In an uncontested divorce, assuming both parties are relatively available to sign, the process can completed in about 2 weeks, rather than many months, or even years.
Returning to the benefit of cost. Any lawyer in the Loudoun area that really has experience, is available to you, and will litigate successfully, will cost approximately $10K BEFORE YOU EVER WALK INTO COURT. There are more reasonably priced options out there, to be sure, but they are cheap for a reason.
In legal work, you really do get what you pay for. Many contested divorces wind up costing the couple $80-$100K when all is said and done: when faced with that reality, a lot of clients realize “Hey, we can’t afford to get divorced! At least not a contested divorce!”
I don’t litigate, and I specialize in uncontested divorces- that means you pay half of what you do before your divorce attorney ever walks into court.
Also- some litigator attorneys (unfortunately) drag out their clients case, knowing that the longer the case goes, the more money they will make. They will often settle your case once they only feel you either 1- are about to fire them because the case is dragging on or, 2- are running out of money to pay them- this is despite the fact that they could have settled it (sometimes much) earlier.
Knowing the divorce will cost less and happen more quickly are great benefits but, another one frequently not mentioned? Happiness. You are much more likely to be happy with the terms of your divorce and settlement if YOU control those terms, for you, your family and your property. I see a lot of unhappy individuals who lost control of the process of what their final divorce will look like because the issues are argued by someone else,. and decided by someone else, namely their attorneys and a judge. Just because the judge believes that something is “fair” or “right” doesn’t mean it’s the best situation for you and your family. Nor does it mean that it’s something the spouses would have chosen had they decided to work it out on their own.
Provided you and your spouse can agree on the key issues (please see my blog post, HERE), for determining whether you are eligible for an uncontested divorce in Virginia), the uncontested divorce process offers a more affordable, faster and happier means for getting divorced and starting the new chapter of your life.
