A divorce trial is comparable to an operation in the medical field. Both the divorce trial and the operation are serious, expensive, stressful and extremely risky.
Whenever possible, responsible physicians recommend less risky alternatives than surgery like physical therapy or medicine. Likewise, when it comes to divorce, responsible divorce attorneys will recommend a settlement through collaborative divorce or mediation, rather than going through the court system.
A divorce trial could turn out worse than an operation. Unlike an operation where most, if not all, of the expense is commonly covered by insurance, there is no such thing as insurance to cover the cost of a divorce trial. Unlike an operation, where the medical professionals almost always work as a team to promote healing, the divorce trial lawyers are each doing their best to attack, discredit and destroy each other as well as the other spouse. And how many operations take as long as two or three weeks – like a typical divorce trial? Unlike an operation, there is no anesthetic in a divorce trial to deaden the pain!
Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes if the circumstances and the personalities involved are such that it is impossible to obtain a settlement, a divorce trial is necessary, just like an operation may be necessary to save a life. However, it is a good idea to resort to divorce court only when it is absolutely necessary – the same way we think of the operating room.
© Arnold D. Cribari 2015
