Most individuals going through a divorce would prefer to resolve their cases outside of court. Who would want to endure the financial and emotional pain of a trial?
The reality is two issues can commonly result in parties being unable to settle their case outside of court. Those two issues are child custody and spousal maintenance.
In some cases, the parties may agree on a preliminary matter to joint physical and legal custody. The issues that might require some negotiation could be the specifics of a custody schedule. For example, the days and times of the week. In these cases, most parties can settle.
However, in some cases, one or both parties want sole legal and physical custody. When this is the case, the parties can often be pitted far apart out of the gates. This discrepancy in their positions can hard to resolve outside of court without the judge having to decide at trial.
In some instances, one party might also seek spousal maintenance (formerly known as “alimony” in many states). This is where both parties agree that one spouse should pay spousal maintenance, even if there is a disagreement on the amount and duration, settlement can often be reached outside of court.
However, in some cases, one party might seek spousal maintenance and the other party might be emphatically opposed to paying any at all. In their opinion, they might feel as if they are unable to pay or that their spouse can obtain gainful employment. When this occurs, this can be a case that is hard to settle outside of court without the judge having to decide at trial.
There are certainly other issues that can cause parties to end up trying their divorce. But these are two of the common issues that can stand in the way of settlement.
If you are going through a divorce or family law matter, Stange Law Firm, PC can help. You can contact us at 1-855-805-0595.