The Truth About Divorce
Divorce in the United States has turned into a $50 billion a year industry. The court system is overwhelmed with litigants and not enough judicial officers, making the whole court process lengthy and trials can last over several days spread out over months or even years.
The truth is that divorce is a business. When you hire that an aggressive attorney to represent you in your case to “protect you” (that may very well be the genuine intent ) by papering the other side with overwhelming pleadings and discovery, the result is ongoing and contentious litigation in most divorce cases that causes the outlay of substantial legal fees and costs in the process.
The divorce process has become a system where some attorneys can pour the equivalent of gasoline on an already incendiary situation with parties angry with each other (or at least not reaching for the fire extinguisher), thereby substantially driving up legal fees and damaging family relations in the process that often never heal. Who wins in that process? Not you. Even if you win an ugly battle in court one day, that likely has only empowered your spouse to spend more money to bring you back to court another day to retaliate.
Also, because the court system does not do the best to educate divorcing parties on how to deal with the emotional aspects of divorce, some spouses get caught up in the emotions and tension of divorce which in turn can drive the litigation in divorce cases. The point is that YOU and your spouse can choose to opt out of the court system by mediating your disputes.
A new documentary about the divorce system in the United States was released in 2014, “Divorce Corp.” The documentary, narrated by Dr. Drew Pinsky, describes itself as “a shocking expose of the inner workings of the $50 billion a year U.S. family law industry.”
Divorce Corp. depicts situations involving some bad outcomes and with some bad apples and the documentary does show some of the antagonism and excesses of court litigation. It also opens up the issue of the current U.S. divorce process for discussion and opens dialogue about moving away from this imperfect adversarial system, to other options like Mediation or Collaborative divorce.
Check out the trailer and related excerpts from Divorce Corp. below as part of your research in determining what is best for you and your family facing the prospect of divorce.
