Several factors influence how long it will take to reach a final settlement:
- The number and complexity of assets and liabilities
- Your understanding of choices and options for assets, liabilities, insurances and support
- The way you each view legal and physical custody
- The ability of you and your spouse to agree
The length of time is determined by the divorcing couple. The Family and Probate Court will not intervene in a private mediation, rather, the court will review the settlement at the court hearing. Once finalized, your agreements regarding assets and liabilities are lasting and final, and your agreements regarding support may be modified without a requirement to return to divorce court.
In every case, a mediated divorce settlement is reached in less time and with less acrimony than in attorney-controlled collaborative or adversarial negotiations.
By comparison, an adversarial divorce can easily take two or more years before the final settlement is hammered out, and even once finalized, the unfair results often create a situation in which one or both parties return to the Family and Probate Court to modify the terms of their settlement.
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