As a parent, you probably want to insulate your children as much as possible from the divorce process, and this is the one thing that you and your future former spouse have no trouble agreeing on. You both acknowledge that the other is a good parent and that your children deserve as much time with each of you as possible.
In fact, even though your marital relationship didn’t work out, you believe that the two of you can continue to work together to raise your children. However, you don’t want to end up in a New Hampshire court letting a judge decide the fate of your family. Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can mediate your child custody agreement and parenting plan, which will more than likely end up being the better option for your family.
Give your family the best possible start to your new lives
You will not be able to get around the fact that major changes are coming for your family. You are going from one household to two, and everyone will have a transition period. You and the other parent can make this transition easier by working together to give your family the best foundation for the future possible. Below are some of the ways that mediation could help you do that:
- Mediation removes the adversarial aspect of the process. Instead, it encourages compromise and cooperation.
- Mediation does not involve “the blame game.” Instead, it focuses on the future of your family and works to give you all a good foundation from which to move forward.
- Mediation helps you and the other parent minimize conflict to keep you on track toward a fair and satisfactory agreement.
- Mediation helps provide you and the other parent with the tools you need to create a new parenting relationship that will benefit the entire family, especially your children.
- Mediation usually costs less than going to court, which takes off some of the financial pressure of the divorce process.
- Mediation allows you and your co-parent the opportunity to maintain control over the future of your family. Creating a child custody agreement and parenting plan together also increases the likelihood that each of you will follow through with your parts of the agreement.
Another important benefit of mediation is it tends to reduce the stress of the situation. If you and your co-parent are not pitted against each other in a courtroom battle and are getting along as parents, your stress levels drop significantly. Your children will fare better knowing this and it could help them through the process by lowering their stress as well. Moreover, they can see that their parents are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them safe, love them and provide them with the support they need.
