Law Office of Joanne Kleiner

Divorce litigation

Oct 09

What Are the Types of Divorce and the Litigation Alternatives?

Are There Alternatives to a Divorce in Court?

In 2020, 58,960 couples got married in Pennsylvania, and 28,884 got divorced. Many people are hesitant to proceed with a divorce because of how they perceive the attention, expense and stress of the process. If you’re considering a divorce, a consultation with a divorce lawyer will help you understand the alternatives to a costly, time-consuming and public divorce in a courtroom.

Collaborative Divorce

If you and your spouse are on good terms, a collaborative divorce offers an effective way to end the marriage. It’s designed to reduce the cost and stress of the divorce process. Both parties work with their individual divorce lawyers to resolve issues without the court having to decide for them. In some cases, such as child custody, the parties might work with other professionals in order to work through disputes. The final settlement comes from the decisions made by the two parties and their lawyers. A judge then signs and enters the final settlement into the public record.

Mediation With a Third Party

When you want to stay out of court as much as possible but you and your spouse also have a wide range of disagreements, working with a mediator may be your best option. When you choose this process, a neutral party works to resolve disputed issues. Mediation is common for helping couples make agreeable decisions on spousal and child support, child custody, pet custody and the division of assets.

The mediator doesn’t represent either party. They also don’t make any of the decisions. They simply facilitate communication with the goal of reaching a settlement as quickly as possible. If you choose to use a mediator, you and your spouse will each want to have an attorney. Mediation costs less than having attorneys argue for you in court, and it also gives you more control and privacy over the divorce process.

Arbitration

Using arbitration is another effective option when you and your spouse want to keep your business out of the public courtroom. This process features a private trial in which one or more arbitrators function as a judge. The arbitrators typically have several years of legal experience, and they may be attorneys who do this on a full-time or part-time basis. This type of alternative dispute resolution allows you and your attorney to present your case.

The hearing isn’t as formal as what takes place in a courtroom. Less evidence is required than what a judge would mandate in court. After a hearing, the arbitrator decides on the issues. One or more issues may be discussed at each hearing. The decisions made by an arbitrator can be non-binding or binding.

Using an arbitrator costs more than a mediator or the collaborative process, but it’s less time-consuming and expensive than handling these disputes in court. The downside of using an arbitrator is that you and your spouse lose control over the decision-making process.

Choosing an Alternative to Divorce

Many divorcing spouses start with a collaborative process. If you don’t make any progress on resolving your disagreements, you can then move on to another option, such as a mediator. Working with a mediator doesn’t prevent you from moving on to an arbitrator if the mediator can’t resolve the areas of disagreement.

Some divorcing spouses work their way through all of these court alternatives in order to reduce the cost, stress and publicity surrounding a traditional divorce process. No matter which type of divorce alternative you consider, consulting with an attorney helps you know what to expect and ensures that all documents are in order and filed with the court in a timely manner.

When you’re considering a Pennsylvania divorce, you may benefit from an appointment with attorney Joanne Kleiner. Contact our office in Jenkintown at (215) 886-1266, or fill out our contact form, and an associate will contact you with scheduling options.

Aug 22

Will a PA Court Hear My Contested Divorce During the COVID-19 Crisis?

Pennsylvania Courts Have a Backlog That Will Affect Contested Divorces

While Pennsylvania has among the lowest divorce rates in the country (9.2% according to 2017 data), there are still thousands of cases on the dockets at any given time in the state. The COVID-19 crisis has put a halt to many in-person court proceedings, and courts have yet to resume these proceedings except on a very limited basis. As a result, you can expect your contested divorce hearing to be delayed for some time.

Courts Are Struggling to Accommodate In-Person Hearings

Courts will eventually hear contested divorce cases, but in-person trials are still a bit in the future. This could make it difficult to conduct a full trial with witnesses and evidence. For the foreseeable future, contested divorce hearings would still be delayed as courts will struggle to accommodate these logistically. Moreover, judges are still clearing their backlog of urgent custody matters that they were not about to reach during the height of the pandemic.

Pennsylvania courts are limited as to what types of proceedings they can conduct right now due to the pandemic. Across the Keystone State, courts are opening on a limited basis. However, for the time being, most judges and court personnel are operating remotely. Only the most urgent matters are being dealt with on an in-person basis right now. Other than that, each jurisdiction is proceeding differently. For example, Philadelphia has canceled all in-person hearings through the end of the year but will conduct protracted hearings remotely over video conference.

Divorce Hearings Often Come Last

This will likely mean that judges have more pressing matters to get to before they reach a contested divorce case. For example, a family court judge may first want to handle emergency custody petitions or matters where the welfare of a child could be in jeopardy. This may require an in-person hearing.

However, contested divorces are not viewed in the same light. Most divorces will end up settling before they reach a court hearing. Judges often view contested result hearings as matters where the two parties simply cannot get along and agree with each other. These are hearings that judges do not like to schedule even when there is not a pandemic. This sentiment will only be enhanced now that court resources are very limited.

Nobody Knows How Long the Backlog Will Last

If you are wondering how long the backlog may last, it is really anybody’s guess. Family court matters are continuing to pile up as judges maintain limited schedules. Even when judges begin to clear their case backlog, their priority will not be contested divorce hearings. These will generally get pushed to the back of the list. If any emergencies are at issue such as custody matters, judges may schedule a remote hearing as opposed to an entire trial in person.

It is very difficult for the court to conduct an entire contested divorce hearing remotely with witnesses and your divorce lawyer. Coordinating a virtual trial with witnesses and other evidence will be a tall task for a court, even though this is how courts intend to hear cases for the foreseeable future. As a party to a divorce trial, you may not even want a remote divorce hearing to decide your case due to the difficulty of arguing your case. Even if it is possible, there is still a substantial backlog.

As a result, your best bet as a divorce litigant is to try to mediate or settle the case without the need for a judge to conduct the trial. If there was ever a time for collaborative divorce or settlement, now is it. Of course, even though analysts always urge you to avoid a trial, we recognize that it takes two to work together to settle the divorce. However, you should understand that going to court will mean that your divorce will take much longer to resolve. This could impact property division and other issues.

To learn more about the status of the courts and how it could affect your divorce, contact the divorce lawyer Joanne Kleiner at (215) 886-1266 to set up a consultation. Our office is located in Jenkintown, PA, but we’re taking social distancing measures to serve clients remotely.

Jun 14, 2012

Divorce Mediation in Pennsylvania

Divorce can easily become a lose-lose proposition, and often everyone involved ends up emotionally scarred — particularly in heavily litigated divorces. However, divorce mediation offers an alternative to bitter court battles and may make your divorce less stressful. Even in cases where the ex-spouses feel animosity toward one another, an experienced Pennsylvania divorce mediator can help resolve situations that at first seem impossible.

What is divorce mediation?

Mediation is a process in which a neutral third party helps you resolve disputes relative to your divorce. The goal of divorce mediation is to help the spouses reach agreements on all or some of their disputes. Divorce mediation is successful because it is based on the following principles:

• Communication
• Fairness
• Flexibility
• Negotiation
• Problem solving
• Privacy and confidentiality

The family court often encourages divorcing couples to try divorce mediation before bringing issues to court. Successful divorce mediation can resolve numerous issues including:

• Spousal/child support
• Child custody/visitation
• Property/debt division

Divorce litigation can drain your finances and your emotional fortitude — especially in divorces involving embittered child custody issues and/or large marital assets that can drag on in court for years. And even once the divorce is over, you can still suffer from the financial and emotional fallout.

In a divorce you have a choice — you can either battle over every issue in court, expending time, money and energy, or you can try mediation. A mediated divorce can offer many benefits, including:

• Reduced legal and court costs
• Quicker problem resolution
• Increased control of problem resolution
• Equal airing of grievances
• Cooperation between spouses
• Co-parenting solutions
• Family issues decided by you rather than the judge

A Pennsylvania mediator can help

A contentious divorce can have devastating effects on you and your family. To discuss how a divorce mediator can help you navigate your divorce, contact us online or call (215) 886-1266 to schedule a consultation.