Thankfully, the United States and California have come a long way when it comes to marriage regulations. Now for most circumstances, no matter the makeup of your current romantic relationship, you are legally able to marry. The process is much the same as a marriage and provides the same benefits, which is why so many couples are choosing to make their relationship legally recognized through domestic partnership.

The Benefits

California state statutes say,

Divorce and separations can be a high stress process between two individuals. If you add in a child, the level of stress becomes astronomical. Not only are you busy deciding who gets what as far as investment and finances, now you are tasked with determining your rights to the children with regard to visitation and custody.. The thought of deciding visitation is so overwhelming and incapacitating that many couples simply choose to stay together until the child becomes an adult at 18. However, there are thousands more who go forward and make the decision to establish child custody visitation rights. How do they make that decision?

Types of Custody

Before deciding who has visitation rights and what those rights are, parents must first decide who will have custody of the child. There are two different types of custody, these are legal and physical custody. Let us explain in further detail.

Just because your marriage is coming to a close does not mean that your soon-to-be ex-spouse is out of your life forever. On the contrary, in fact, especially if you have children. More and more splitting couples are discovering that divorce is not the end of the conversation. Regardless of communication practices during the union, divorce discussions are harder. You will want to remember that during a divorce that effective communication skills can make the process easier and help you effectively get the arrangements that you want and need out of the agreement. These are a few tips that help clients in tough divorce situations and make divorce mediation a viable option.

Tip #1: Set Guidelines and Boundaries for Discussion.

As the adage says, “familiarity breeds contempt.” No matter how long the marriage lasted, there are likely to be some issues that were left unsaid. Familiarity during a divorce can lead to crossing boundaries, which is often destructive to the conversation. These are a few common scenarios:

Perhaps you are in the middle of divorce conversations. Maybe you were just served divorce papers out of the blue when you thought everything in your marriage was normal. Maybe you finally have had enough and are ready to call it quits but have not dropped that bomb on your significant other. In any of these situations, it is very likely that you have questions and are out exploring information. Even if you have gone through a divorce before, the culture and the divorce experience itself have changed and become something of a healing process. Yes, the marriage is over, but the split does not have to be emotionally scarring. Many couples that choose divorce are opting to go with the “friendly” divorce option, known as divorce mediation.

What Is Divorce Mediation?

Divorce mediation is a divorce option where, instead of going in front of a judge to have them iron out the details of your divorce, you and your spouse, together with your mediator, sit down in a room together and decide what works best for you and your situation.

During a divorce, it seems like the world collapses. Due to rampant negative feelings, each party becomes defensive and the “blame game” begins. If everyone remains too busy “protecting their assets” no one wins. Many couples must go before a judge to sort out the divorce details. The disadvantage with this methodology is that neither party has control over the outcome. A judge has a set of guidelines by which to adhere to divide your assets, your children, and in essence, your lives. An alternative solution that is increasing in popularity is divorce mediation.

Your’s Does Not Have to Be a Nightmare

Your divorce need not be the unpleasant experience many envision. The negative imagery remains fueled on by personal anecdotes from family members, friends, or co-workers. Remember that no two people are the same, therefore no marriage is the same, and by that measurement, no divorce is the same. Relationships are complicated and personal, and no one can accurately assess them but you and your spouse. Negotiation is possible if you would like to have a friendly divorce.