Unwedded bliss

Instead of calling in high-powered divorce attorneys for a showdown in court, more soon-to-be exes are making like Chris and Gwyneth and ‘consciously uncoupling’

L ast september, Doug French was running on the treadmill when he had a terrifying heart attack that landed him in the hospital for three days. Once he knew he’d be OK, though, his head began spinning at the recovery process ahead of him. He wouldn’t be able to drive for weeks, there would be new medications to monitor, plus he had two kids to take care of.

But by the time he was discharged, his ex-wife, Magda Pecsenye, a consultant, had already moved into his home to help him and their sons.

“We feel like we’re family more than friends. It was like, ‘Of course I’m going to move in and take care of him, right?’ ” Pecsenye, 41, says.

“I feel very fortunate Magda is my ex-wife,” adds French, 48, the co-founder of the social media platform Dad 2.0 summit. “It’s nice when you can be happy that the mother of your children is their mother and happier still that she’s not your wife anymore.”

Whether you call it amicable divorce, mediation or — if you’re Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, who ended their 10-year marriage in March — “conscious uncoupling,” more people are taking a peaceful path to splitsville.

Fewer than 5 percent of divorces end up going to trial. In New Jersey, divorce attorneys are even required to advise their clients to try mediation or arbitration first — a big change from a decade ago, when these rules weren’t in place. so, instead of leaving their fate up to a judge, most couples hash out custody agreements and divide assets with a professional mediator who

Magda Pecsenye and Doug French went through divorce mediation in 2008. They eventually moved from Manhattan to Michigan so that they could live four blocks away from each other in separate homes and split child-rearing 50/50. In March, Gwyneth Paltrow...