Collaborative Divorce works

Divorce is a complicated process. Decisions have to be made about support, custody, visitation, assets and debts. Shouldn’t you have a say in what happens? You can, if you use the Collaborative Divorce Process.

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE WORKS!

Many Divorce Attorneys will promise to fight for you.  While that is all well and good, battles cost money. A great deal of money. In most divorce battles, the biggest winner can be  the attorneys. Win or lose, they make money. Couldn’t you use your money rather than spending it on unnecessary legal fees?

My job is to help you solve problems, not fight battles

A CUSTOM CRAFTED SOLUTION

This is NOT mediation. You and your spouse each have attorneys representing you.

The basic premise behind Collaborative Divorce is the belief shared by the two Collaboratively trained attorneys and their clients that it is better for clients and their families to resolve their issues as AMICABLY AS POSSIBLE, and WITHOUT going to court. The structure of the process is grounded in a PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT which both spouses and their attorneys sign. In the PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT the both attorneys agree that if the Collaborative Process fails (and any client can stop the process at any time) these two attorneys will not represent these clients in a divorce case in court.

• For the first time, both attorneys have a vested interest in helping their clients find answers to the problems and issues surrounding their divorce
• No “one size fits all” solutions.
• The attorneys can use their experiences to help the clients come up with innovative solutions which are custom crafted for that particular family, at a cost far less than the fees for a divorce processed through the courts.

THE PROCESS

You and your spouse and each of your attorneys agree in writing not to go to trial during the collaborative process. This does not stop you from going to court if the process breaks down and is not effective with your particular case. However, since only a small portion of matrimonial cases ever actually go to trial (less than 10%), in all probability your matter will wind up being settled by the both of you after many months of preparing for a trial, which trial rarely takes place. Why not control the settlement process yourself instead of the threat of trial driving you to make decisions or by having a judge, who does not know you or your family, making such decisions? After choosing Collaborative Law, all four of us will have a series of conferences devoted to working out settlement issues in your particular matter. If necessary “neutral” professionals (professionals who represent BOTH parties) of other disciplines can also be invited to partake in the process. These can include, but are not limited to, Divorce Coaches, financial analysts, pension appraisers, and child specialists. This “team approach” is gaining wide acceptance and is proving to be the most effective and expedient method of resolving divorce, support and visitation issues. While it may appear at first that hiring these additional professionals adds to the cost of the divorce, this is not the case. It has been shown that these professional can have the effect of saving both time AND MONEY for the clients. These additional professional neutrals (who have also been trained in the Collaborative Process) work at their specialty, usually at a lower hourly rate then the attorneys, taking over some of the work with the clients that was previously in the attorneys domain.

You and your spouse are both going to need to ask yourselves “What kind of relationship do we want to have with each other once this case is finished?” No one in the litigation process will ask you that. Especially if you have children, you and your spouse will be spending many years seeing each other at birthdays, graduations, christenings, weddings, etc. There will be many events in your children’s lives which will require both of you to be present. What better gift could you give them?