Almost 95% of all divorces in the United States are uncontested, with about 5% going to trial according to CBS, meaning that couples have agreed on most of the competing issues. When spouses agree on how they can go about separating their lives and ending their marriage, they don’t need to spend countless months fighting each other in a court of law.

With uncontested divorces, spouses will work together to negotiate mutually beneficial settlements. They can collaborate with a mediator or their individual attorneys to come to agreements on essential divorce issues like alimony, child custody, property division, and more. After the entire process, they then can bring the agreement before a judge for finalization. If an out-of-court settlement is impossible, then the case will go to trial as a contested divorce.