Most parties want to settle their divorce amicably outside of court without a trial. For various reasons, some parties cannot reach a decision on every aspect of their divorce. Some parties might not even be able to reach an agreement on much of anything.

Either way, this can result in a trial taking place. A trial is the only way to resolve a divorce where a complete settlement is not reached.

When making think of the concept of a divorce trial, they can resort to mindset of thinking of winning or losing. The view is that one party wins and the other loses. They think of it much like an individual would think of a criminal case.

In a criminal case, either the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt and the defendant is found guilty. Or, in contrast, they do not prove their case and they are found innocent.

If the defendant was found not guilty at trial, most would consider that a win for the defendant. On the other hand, if the defendant was found guilty, most could consider that a loss for the defendant.

The reality is a divorce trial is not this simple. There is not always a clear winner or loser. In fact, the results are split decisions in many cases.

In other words, one party might feel as if they won in certain areas. Yet, they might feel like they lost in other areas.

Take a client who might feel as if the property and debt division result was a win for them. On the other hand, they might feel like they lost on child custody, child support, spousal support and attorneys’ fees. A client in this situation might walk away very unhappy because they lost on four out of the five main categories of issues at trial.

Of course, all these broad categories are broken down into very small parts in a divorce trial result. The family court judge has to decide what many would consider small details, like exchange locations, tax deductions for the children, who is covering health insurance, the summer schedule for the children, etc.

The family court judge also has to decide the length of spousal maintenance, if it is ordered, and phase down amounts for child support as children are emancipated. T

hey might have to decide lengths of time for certain items. Take where a party has to refinance the mortgage on the house. Is that to be done with 30-days or 90-days? To some parties, these kinds of details might be huge for them.

At the end of the day, a divorce trial result is unlike most other areas of the law. Many parties end up feeling fairly good about certain aspects of the result. Yet, they might feel terrible about other areas decided upon at trial.

This is the reality of divorce law. It is also why many will tell you that almost nobody is completely happy after a divorce trial.

If you are going through divorce where a trial is upcoming, Stange Law Firm, PC may be able to help. You can contact us at 855-805-0595.