One of the most nerve-racking aspects of a modern divorce is how you must turn over control regarding some of the most personal areas of your life to a judge. In theory, the judge presiding over your divorce will have the authority to split up your possessions and debts and decide how much time you get to spend with your children.
Giving someone that much control over your life can be a frightening prospect. Some people can’t handle that kind of instability and unpredictability. Do you have any options that allow you to maintain control over a pending Georgia divorce and its outcome, or are you always going to be at the mercy of a stranger?
Marital agreements can preemptively set your divorce terms
If you and your spouse sat down and signed a prenuptial agreement before you got married, or a postnuptial agreement when you started a business or experienced some marital issues, that prenuptial agreement sets the terms for your divorce.
Provided that neither spouse contests the agreement and the courts don’t notice any illegal or problematic provisions, it could guide all the decisions in your divorce. In other words, the courts will often uphold marital agreements, allowing for a faster divorce and for the spouses to have more control over the outcome.
Collaborative divorce or mediation can facilitate an uncontested filing
If you and your spouse sign a marital agreement and decide to divorce, you would file an uncontested divorce because you have already set the terms for the dissolution of your marriage. Just because you don’t have any agreements already in place doesn’t mean that litigation is your only option.
If you can work in collaborative divorce proceedings or have your attorneys negotiate directly, you can choose to set terms for an uncontested filing. If you have certain issues that you can’t resolve on your own or with the help of your attorneys, mediation or arbitration can give you alternative ways to resolve your dispute and move forward with an uncontested divorce filing.
A proper divorce strategy and familiarity with Georgia law and divorce precedent can help you feel more comfortable with filing a divorce, regardless of whether or not you set the terms yourself.