What is a collaborative divorce? -
In a collaborative divorce, a parting couple commits to resolving their issues out of court. With their collaborative divorce team, they work together respectfully to make win-win decisions for everyone involved. A collaborative divorce has many advantages over a litigation model:
- The opportunity to be in control over one's future by crafting a workable agreement for all involved.
- The ability to decide custody and financial issues jointly with long-term child development and financial advice.
- The power to move forward with a focus on the future and develop a mutually beneficial outcome of a financial settlement that takes into account the well-being of both parties,
- The better use of resources in that normally, a collaborative divorce costs less in terms of time, money, and energy than a litigated adversarial divorce with multiple hearings and a trial on the merits.
- The ability to keep private family issues from being made public record.
- When children are involved, the primary focus remains on the children when making long-term plans for custody, timesharing, and support. By avoiding the adversarial litigation model, animosity is reduced, and both parents are able to co-parent effectively when making decisions regarding their child(ren).
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How it works:
At the outset, both parties and their collaboratively trained attorneys sign an agreement not to go to Court. Collaborative Divorce resolves issues through a series of constructive four-way meetings involving discussion of all relevant issues between parties and their counsel. Some of these meetings may involve other members of the team, i.e. divorce coach(es), child specialist, and/or financial specialist. The collaborative process requires honesty by both spouses to provide all relevant documents and information relating to their issues. There is no “hiding the ball.” Both spouses and their collaborative team work together toward a shared resolution that recognizes any common goals, individual needs, obligations of each party, and the best interest of their child(ren). If at any point the process breaks down, and someone terminates the process, all professionals must withdraw, and litigation counsel and experts are retained.
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