Amicable California Divorce Guides

For those husbands and wives who expect a peaceful divorce process

An amicable California divorce can save time, stress and money

You have a lot of spare time? Do you enjoy stress? Do you have a lot of disposable money to spend on lawyers?

Of course, the great majority of people would answer these questions with a, "no!"

But there is one more question. Do you believe you and your spouse can be reasonable, cooperative and through dialogue and negotiation resolve all or most of the issues? If the answer to that question is yes, then an amicable divorce is for you.

An amicable divorce in California simply means a divorce that does not involve litigation

There is still a divorce petition. There is also usually a response to the petition. These are both filed and served. However, nobody rushes to court to get temporary child custody, support or other orders.

Instead, the spouses will negotiate to resolve those issues and sign written agreements and orders that confirm the terms and conditions under which both of them can live. The same is true with all other issues such as asset and debt division.

Do the spouses have to go through this alone?

No. There are many ways to amicably resolve a divorce. They include the following:

1. Each spouse hires their own attorney who provides advice to his or her client

The attorneys then speak with each other and their clients and reasonably work together to bring the matter to closure. The distinct advantage to this approach is both the husband and the wife remain informed and have independent legal advice throughout the process. A process like this avoids one spouse from taking unfair advantage of the other.

2. The spouses higher a neutral mediator to guide them through the divorce process

The divorce mediator does not represent either spouse. The divorce mediator does not give legal advice although he or she will provide information on California divorce law and procedure.

It is best for each spouse to have their own independent lawyer throughout the mediation process. Sometimes, such a lawyer participates in the divorce mediation.

Sometimes, the lawyer will remained in the background and simply provide guidance to his or her client throughout the process. Usually, a spouse will not finalize an agreement until he or she has his or her lawyer's advice.

3. Spouses will try to handle their own divorce, without an independent lawyer or mediator

If the case is very simple, such that it is a very short marriage, little to no assets or debts, no children, and no support issues, I suppose such a process may work. But we have rarely if ever seen the process go efficiently and the paperwork done correctly when spouses take this approach, no matter how amicable they think they are being with each other.

Knowledge is truly power and it is a mistake not to gain knowledge through the advice of an independent and experienced divorce lawyer, like those in our family law firm.

We hope you enjoy our articles on amicable divorces

You may access them by navigating to the Divorce A - Z link that you will find at the top of our website or simply click on the links below.

If your case will be or is in Southern California and you want to speak with an experienced and knowledgeable family law attorney, please contact us by calling us at (714) 937-1193 or completing the Contact Form on this website.

We will first speak with you by telephone and, if your matter is one with which we can help, set an affordable strategy session with one of our highly experienced family law attorneys.