and a way to protect children and families.
What is Collaborative Divorce?
Collaborative Divorce is a non-adversarial alternative to the traditional divorce. It ‘s approach to divorce is based on three simple principles:
- A pledge not to go to court
- An honest exchange of discovery by both spouses
- A solution that considers the priorities of both the adults and their children
In essence, Collaborative Divorce is a team of professionals working together with you and your spouse to achieve your goals! This team will consist of two independent attorneys (trained in collaborative divorce) to represent each spouse, the coach (a mental health professional), a financial specialist (utilized in most cases) and a child specialist (infrequently utilized highly complex custody cases). What the team approach does is it focuses on your future as opposed to your past.
Key Benefits
- Peace of mind, reduced anxiety
- Value / Cost effective
- Security and privacy
- Less conflict in the future
- More control of the outcome
- Best interest of the children
The Professional Team
The Collaborative Attorneys
The attorneys are there to advise their clients of the law that applies to his/her case. They are there to provide guidance and support during the process. The two attorneys cooperate with each other as well as the other professional team members to work out the best possible outcome for both parties and their children. The attorneys and clients agree to not file motions in court but to work out the parties’ differences through the collaborative process.
The Neutral Coach
The Coach is there to provide structure and neutrality. The coach facilitates the team communication as well as the settlement conferences. The coach is a mental health professional because another role of the coach is to help parties manage their intense feelings with the process. The coach is also integral in facilitating resolving impasses. The coach is not a therapist for the parties but there to help the process along.
The Neutral Financial Specialist
The Financial Specialist is there to gather all of the financial information that will be needed, to prepare the parties financial affidavits and also to gather what will need to ultimately be divided through the divorce process. The reason to use a financial specialist as opposed to having the attorneys do this discovery process is because a financial specialist can look at the numbers with the parties and show them tax consequences of different child support/alimony amounts, can help create balance sheets and cash flow charts. This collection of data is crucial in the process so that the parties can not only see what they currently have but after the parties financially separate; they can feel confident that they will be able to remain financial stable.