Just ask Joe and Suzanne
This is the true story of Joe and Suzanne, who were married in 1986, separated in 2003 and were still battling in court in 2012. This is what happened.
Although they were living separately, Joe did not file for divorce until 2005. He and Suzanne then spent the next three years in pretrial discovery. When a settlement could not be reached, a trial was begun in 2008. It took until June 2011, THREE YEARS, to complete the trial!
Since Joe did not believe the result was fair, he filed an appeal which took another 18 months. The appeal was decided in December 2012 and the appellate court upheld most of what the trial court did but sent the case BACK TO THE TRIAL COURT to recalculate the amount of support Joe was required to pay.
Today, after being separated for over nine years and after seven years of litigation, Joe and Suzanne are still battling it out in court. I can only imagine what it has cost each of them in legal fees. But I bet if you asked Joe and Suzanne today, they would have preferred to mediate the divorce instead of spending all that time and money fighting with each other.
The truth of the matter is that there are no winners in a litigated divorce. Except perhaps the lawyers!
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