COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE

The real key to the success of this process is the collaborative team. Collaborative divorce is based on a team approach. This team of collaboratively trained professionals includes attorneys, financial professionals and divorce coaches all working together to help the couple reach a fair, mutually acceptable and beneficial agreement with regard to all issues associated with ending the marriage.

Attorneys

In the collaborative approach each party hires their own attorney who will provide legal guidance, advice, advocacy and support throughout the process. Considering the far reaching impact of the final divorce agreement, it is important that the attorney be trained in the collaborative process and knowledgeable with regard to conflict resolution in a non-adversarial setting.

Financial Professionals

Financial experts assist the team by providing financial guidance. A certified financial planner provides advice regarding financial planning, budgeting and investment advice as well tax planning advice. An accountant provides tax planning advice and can perform an analysis of a party’s cash flow as well as value a business. A real estate agent provides guidance regarding the sale or purchase of a home. A mortgage broker provides mortgage assistance in terms of purchasing a home and guidance regarding qualifying for a mortgage.

Whereas a traditional litigated divorce will pit each party’s expert against their spouse’s expert as parties seek to “win” their case, the collaborative approach positions a team of financial experts all working in conjunction for the best interests of everyone involved.

Divorce Coaches

Divorce coaches consists of mental health professionals who are collaboratively trained and assist with child and parenting aspects of the divorce as well as communication skills. Divorce coaches help parents understand how divorce may affect their children and reduce the negative impact the process can have on them. They can help to set up a realistic shared parenting schedule that considers the needs of everyone involved, including the children. and which is responsive to the changing needs of the family as they grow.

No two families are the same and every divorce is different. Putting the future and well-being of your family in the hands of a court can be uncertain and unpredictable as well as costly and time consuming. It is this lack of control that so often fuels much of the conflict we often see in traditional divorce litigation. It is the feeling of being alone in the process that stirs hostility among the parties and heightens the emotional turmoil. In the collaborative process, neither party is alone. The couple has a team of professionals who know how to guide them through to finding solutions that will allow them to thrive as they move on with their new lives.

Couples choosing collaborative divorce agree from the outset not to battle in court. Instead, they sit down with professionals and work out settlements that meet the goals of their families. They pledge that if either spouse wants to bring the dispute to court, both spouses must retain new litigation counsel. This agreement fundamental to the collaborative process, keeps the parties at the negotiating table and requires attorneys to find creative resolutions rather than resorting to the court to intervene in an impasse.

Four-Way-Meetings

While attorneys frequently use “four-way” meetings to settle litigation cases, a collaborative “four-way” has distinct qualities.

First, the focus is on the couples’ goals and interest, rather than a clash of opposing demands formulated by counsel. A collaborative four-way is a problem-solving exercise in which the spouses and attorneys engage together in creating resolutions that meet the family’s goals.

Multiple Disciplines

Another unique aspect of collaborative divorce is that it is designed as a multi-disciplinary process. When appropriate, the couple may seek advice from professionals, in addition to their attorneys.

Forensic accountants can help determine the value of property and businesses and assist in evaluating options for alimony and child support. Financial advisors educate clients about investing and budgeting, and also assist clients in establishing accounts and transferring retirement assets. Mental health professionals, known as Coaches in the collaborative process, may be called upon to help the couple deal with emotions that keep them for focusing on financial issues or leave them unprepared to make decisions. Coaches also help the couple in communicating about the interests of their children and developing parenting plans, where they are unable to do so on their own.

These professionals may be engaged as neutrals that assist both spouses, or for the sole benefit of one spouse. The agreement to retain other professionals is reached by the attorneys and spouses together, so each family can assemble the professional team that will best help them resolve their conflict.

All the professionals involved in the collaborative law process are specifically trained to facilitate interest-based negotiations. The attorney’s role is to advocate for their clients as well as educate and guide their clients through the divorce process.

Here are some of the roles of the collaborative professionals:

• Assist clients in gathering and analyzing information;
• Help clients examine needs and interests to development settlement options and packages;
• Help clients evaluate consequences and limitations of possible solutions;
• Help clients evaluate settlement options in the context of established legal precedents;
• Help clients weigh settlement options in relation to their values and interests;
• Set the framework for negotiation;
• Prepare the required legal documentation of the agreement and obtain a Judgment;
• Help clients develop post-divorce agreements as needed;
• Coordinate with other team members.

Client Benefits

For clients, the collaborative process offers a number of benefits. Their children are always treated as a priority, and everyone on the team works to maintain and support the couple’s ability to co-parent their children. The couple also keeps control of the timing of the process, unlike litigated cases where the court dictates the time frame. They can move more quickly or more slowly than a court would require, and can reach informal temporary agreements quickly and efficiently when necessary, rather than filing a series of motions that often result in court Orders that impede, rather than encourage settlement. The process is confidential so sensitive financial and personal information doesn’t enter the public domain. Keeping the process outside of court until an agreement is reached eliminates hours spent in court for case management and other court-required events, saving legal costs and the client’s time.

In fact, the collaborative process is usually quicker—about three to six months compared to between 18 months or longer, if litigated, and therefore; less costly than a traditional divorce. Finally, the couple and their children are less likely to come away emotionally damaged because they are not pitting themselves against one another in all-out warfare.

Attorney Benefits, Too

There are benefits for attorneys as well. Not attending court conferences allows attorneys to use their time and their client’s money, more efficiently.

Clients are more satisfied with the process as they see their attorney working for them in the four-way or five-way meetings, they appreciate the efficiency of the process, and they get durable agreements without delay.

Bringing in mental health professionals to help clients who are finding it difficult to focus on negotiations saves the attorney from the dreaded irrational fights over finances that come from unresolved emotional issues.

Another intangible benefit is the reward of seeing clients reaches agreements in a healthier way, without damaging each other or their children.

However, with that said, not every case will be appropriate for collaborative law, nor will every client be interested in avoiding the adversarial process.

Divorce will always remain a significant life event, but that does not mean that it has to be damaging to the parties and their children. Collaborative law practitioners believe the collaborative process can guide clients and their families to a compassionate ending and a healthy new beginning.