Online programs such as It’s Over Easy can walk you through a divorce process, but should you really, completely, “do it yourself” (DIY)? You might have gone into the divorce process thinking, “We want a simple divorce.” Then you realize that you and your spouse have issues you didn’t even know you need to resolve. It’s at that point you realize it’s not necessarily going to be “over easy.”
If that describes you, mediation can be a great compliment to your online divorce. Artificial intelligence and its applications can help you move through the divorce process: It can generate a checklist of issues that need to be resolved; it can generate legal forms; it may have built-in tools to help create a parenting plan. But it’s not going to help you come to a thoughtful agreement if there is a dispute between you and your spouse.
Online programs may seem like a good fit for low-conflict and relatively simple divorces. But some issues can be more complicated. A mediator will help you deal with the specific circumstances that you and your spouse are facing now and could face in the future like: “What if I lose my job?” or “What if this changes, or that happens?” There’s only so much the computer can know to ask.
A few meetings with a mediator can help ensure that you have discussed all of the relevant issues and will make sure you have a legally binding Settlement Agreement to file with the rest of the divorce papers that will be generated in the online program.
And speaking of those divorce papers, there are a lot of them to fill out if you’re getting divorced in Massachusetts.
When you work with me as your mediator I will make sure your agreement has addressed all of the issues that are important to you and your spouse and that your divorce papers are properly filled out.