You may have never anticipated getting a divorce. Few people go into a marriage thinking that they will one day end the relationship, but years down the road, many people in Maryland and across the country find that ending the marriage is the right choice for them. If you currently face this scenario, you may worry that you have a difficult time ahead of you.
Fortunately, your divorce case does not have to be filled with disputes and conflict. If you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree that ending the marriage is best for the two of you, it is possible to have a relatively amicable divorce. You may even be able to make certain decisions outside of the courtroom.
What can you agree upon beforehand?
If you and the other party can have civil conversations, you may want to go over some of the bigger aspects of divorce. For instance, if you have children, you will likely want to discuss what type of custody arrangement you believe will best suit the circumstances. You could go over with whom the children will live, what type of visitation schedule is feasible and how you will handle custody exchanges.
Another topic you could discuss is property division. Divvying up marital property can easily be a point of contention, but you may find that you can negotiate and come to reasonable outcomes. It is important to remember that property division does not only look at physical property, so it would be wise to go over your debts to see how those could be divided as well.
Do you have to do this alone?
Even if you want to make as many decisions outside the courtroom as possible, you do not have to try to negotiate on your own. You and your soon-to-be ex can (and should) obtain separate legal counsel to help you through the process. Your attorney can go over how state laws could affect your case and explain what the court may look at when determining whether to approve any decisions you made outside of court.
You may also want to remember that you could utilize alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation or collaboration. These methods take place outside of court and are more informal, but they still allow for outside assistance to keep the process moving forward.