Answer:

Oftentimes, we ask our clients to attend a mediation and their first question is whether that is going to save them money in their divorce case. In Georgia, I would say, yes, absolutely. Attending a mediation, if it is successful, will save you money because, especially in our local court system, there is a lot of backlog. You could wait three to six months to have a trial date scheduled, whereas we usually could get a mediation day within about 30 days from the day that we request it. You can work mediation around your own schedule. You are not at the whim of the court system and their time constraints. Oftentimes, when we attend mediation and it ends successfully, even if that takes six to eight hours of your time, it is going to be a lot cheaper than going forward with the trail process and having the attorney fees built up over the course of several months. After a mediation is successfully completed, you can alert the trial court that you’ve reached an agreement in your divorce case, and in Georgia, you are allowed to proceed with gathering the final divorce decree so that your case has been ended, you’re officially divorced, and you don’t have to wait that extra time and spend that extra money. I would say that mediation is a very cost efficient and effective way to push forward your case in the most expedited process, but also to save a little bit of money. If you have any questions about the mediation process during your divorce case or whether your case may be eligible for mediation to save you a little bit of money, just call our office and we’ll be more than happy to look at the facts and circumstance of your case and see if that would be appropriate.