Dispute Resolution Center Houston
People that seek an amicable divorce with little to no conflict can turn to alternative dispute resolution or ADR. Alternative dispute resolution is a path to amicable and durable solutions during divorce without going to court. That means that you get to reduce cost and preserve workable relationship with your ex-spouse, which makes it easier to raise your children after divorce. An experienced family law lawyer can represent you during mediations and help you resolve your divorce without litigation.
What Is Alternative Dispute Resolution?
ADR refers to a process where a neutral or impartial third party helps people communicate and collaborate to resolve conflict. The three common means of ADR for divorce cases are:
- Collaborative law cases: Both parties involved in divorce retain a lawyer and both have to sign a “no-court” agreement. The parties involved and their lawyer work together to come up with terms of their marital dissolution without a court intervening.
- Mediation: It is a confidential process run by a trained third party to help two parties reach a settlement in a controlled environment. Any agreement reached during mediation must be approved by a court.
- Arbitration: A retired judge or attorney is appointed as arbitrator with the approval of both parties. The arbitrator listens to evidence and testimony from both sides and then makes a ruling. Both parties must agree beforehand whether the arbitrator’s final ruling should be binding or non-binding. Each party involved in the divorce gets to retain a lawyer.
What Are The Benefits Of ADR?
In a litigated divorce, the judge issues orders for child support, alimony, visitation, property division and more. But ADR allows you to come up with creative ideas that are fair to you and the other spouse. Some of the benefits of alternative dispute resolution methods include:
- Lower costs compared to litigated divorce
- Flexibility in resolving issues
- Confidentiality
- Both parties retain control throughout the process
- Parties are more likely to remain friendly after the divorce is finalized
- ADR leads to quicker and more efficient settlements and resolutions
- Ability to come up with creative solutions that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of the parties involved in the divorce
Many people chose ADR for divorce because of the confidentiality aspect of it. That means that private events, perceptions or issues and other discussions cannot be used against the couple in the event that the divorce ends up in court.
What To Expect After Successful Negotiations
In most situations, after a couple reaches an agreement, the attorneys draft a final agreement that details all the decisions that were made during the negotiations. This happens irrespective of the method used to reach that agreement. The lawyers then present the written agreement to a judge to review. The judge will then issue an order to finalize the divorce if the judge approves the settlement. A judge is likely to deny approval if the written agreement obviously favors one of the parties that are divorcing.
A Houston adoption lawyer that has extensive experience dealing with adoptions is more likely to pay attention to the small details and can work to prevent unexpected roadblocks. Your lawyer can handle all the legal aspects of your case whether you are adopting through an agency or are adopting a relative. With a lawyer you can avoid the legal pitfalls that could result in you spending a lot of money because of delays. A Houston adoption lawyer can help you with following types of adoptions:
Child support guidelines make it possible for you and your lawyer to calculate an estimate of the amount you need to pay for child support. There is a limit to how much a parent can pay for child support in Texas. But a parent may have to pay more in the following situations:
Secured debt is a kind of debt that is backed by collateral such as your home or your car. This means that when you can no longer make monthly payments for your home or car, the lender may seize the collateral and sell it to recoup losses. However, when you file for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the lender cannot seize your house or car but will have to agree to your repayment plan. An unsecured debt is debt that is not secured by any collateral such as a credit card purchase. A creditor may seize your non-exempt property if you fail to repay what you owe.
Your lawyer can help you draft a prenup that protects and keeps family estates and assets in the family should you and your spouse pass away. You can also use a prenup to set aside assets for your children from a previous marriage or for children that you have with your current partner. A prenup can be an effective way to protect your spouse from debt collection efforts on debt held solely by you. In a situation where one of the parties is wealthy while the other is not, the wealthy party can use the prenup to assure the less-wealthy party that they will be looked after adequately in case their marriage ends in a divorce. 
Your lawyer will work with you to ensure that you make proper decisions concerning child custody, division of marital property, visitation rights and more. Your lawyer can look at your paperwork to ensure that what you agree to will not come back to haunt you after the divorce. This is very important especially in a divorce case that involves young children or substantial assets or both. A short marriage with no minor children and few assets is easier to end through an uncontested divorce without either spouse hiring a lawyer.
In Texas, parenting presumptions do not yet apply to same sex couples. What that means is that during same sex divorce one of the spouses can be treated as the step parent of the child. A step parent is not required to pay child support and cannot be awarded visitation rights or child custody. That is why it is important for same sex couples to ensure that they are both legal parents of the child, to protect the child in the event of death of the legal or biological parent or a divorce. In an opposite sex divorce, a father can avoid paying child support by proving that the minor child involved is not his child.
There are spouses that do all they can to try and hide some of the marital property in order to preserve their wealth. Some spouses start hiding funds offshore, using trusts, joint partnerships and more, months before they actually file for divorce. Fortunately, an experienced high net worth lawyer can properly request for all relevant information during the discovery stage of your divorce to prevent your spouse from successfully hiding assets. Your lawyer can also use the services of a forensic CPA. The Forensic CPA can review your spouse’s personal financial books and other books to uncover whether assets have been concealed.
Your bankruptcy lawyer will help you in your means test to determine whether you should opt for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You can only qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy if your income is less than the median income in Texas. So a means test is just a calculation of your income, expenses, and family size, and then comparing the result of that calculation with the median income of Texas. Some individuals that seem to have an income higher than the median income can still qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy after deducting expenses. People who file for a Chapter 13 do not have to take the means test.