Take it from the Judge: The Courtroom is no place for a Family!

I read with interest a statement by Minneapolis Family Court Judge Bruce Peterson who offered that it was “time, perhaps, to get courts out of divorce.” In an editorial published for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Judge Peterson was quoted as saying, “it is amazing to me that the American public has put up with government officials dictating the most intimate details of their personal lives.”

Judge Peterson went on to say that the worst feature of the current family law system is that it generates conflict since it is based upon an adversary system. The adversary system was designed to settle disputes between strangers such as criminals and the public, accident victims, and contracts between people who often had little need for a relationship with the other party after the dispute had been settled.

In contrast, family members will very likely have an ongoing relationship long after the dispute has been resolved. Unfortunately, the adversarial system that is used to “resolve” that dispute might cause irreparable harm to the family members and make it difficult to ever have a civil relationship.

As I often tell my clients, while you will literally save thousands of dollars using mediation to reach a marital settlement, the best reason to do so is to maintain control over the outcome and not allow the end of your marriage be the end of your ability to have at least a civil relationship with your ex-spouse. Your children will thank you.

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