What Is Collaborative Divorce?

Collaborative Divorce Attorney

The divorce process is complicated and often involves divorce lawyers, court dates, and a lot of money. But collaborative divorce is an easier alternative that couples who don’t have major disagreements can take advantage of. In a collaborative divorce, each spouse has their own lawyer and these lawyers deal with issues using interest-based negotiation. An interest-based negotiation is a method that enables spouses to formulate agreements that focus on their individual interests or goals.

Private And Confidential

In a collaborative divorce, each of the spouses can have private conversations with their attorney and plan how to accomplish their goals in the divorce. But unlike traditional divorce, the goals of each party are reached without creating enmity, or anger between the divorcing parties. The process is handled by each of the spouses Collaborative Divorce lawyers in an office not in a courtroom. What this means is that the couple can negotiate their issues comfortably and arrive at an agreement that benefits both of them.

Collaborative Divorce Is Less Expensive

A Collaborative Divorce is significantly less expensive than a trial mostly because you’ll spend far less money on attorneys. Couples that seek a contested dissolution often go to court and end up spending more because it takes longer for them to agree on various issues. They also have to pay court fees and filing fees. Couples are likely to choose a contested divorce when they disagree on different issues such child support, child custody or property division.

Spouses Have More Control

Couples going through a Collaborative Divorce do not rely on a judge to issue an order on property division, child custody, alimony and other issues. Instead the divorcing spouses can come up with a creative and customized agreement that works for both of them. Their agreement is likely to be better than an order from a judge that is not familiar with a couple’s unique circumstances. Couples can also work with specially trained Collaborative Divorce experts that can help them arrive at a solution that suits them both.

Preserving Family Relationships

The couples going through a divorce do not have to become enemies after the divorce is finalized. After a contested or litigated adversarial divorce, spouses may end up becoming enemies. A Collaborative divorce allows couples to reach a respectful resolution. Both spouses work in good faith and share freely any information that is necessary to reach a complete agreement. This includes information about assets, debts, and other financial information. The point is to make the divorce cooperative or amicable so that the children don’t suffer emotionally while the couple involved remains on speaking terms.

The Collaborative Divorce Process

After the couple agree to participate in the collaborative divorce process, each of them can hire an attorney. Collaborative divorce attorneys are experienced in helping the couples reach a win-win settlement. The couples will have to disclose full information about assets and debts because dishonesty may lead to a court case. The Collaborative Divorce process involves several four-way meetings where the couple resolves, negotiates and discusses issues such as debt division, child support, child custody, visitation and more. Finally an agreement is drafted and submitted to a court for review and approval.