Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative Divorce is a process for parties dealing with marital or domestic partner dissolutions who work with trained professionals as a team to resolve disputes respectfully and fairly without resorting to court intervention. The collaborative model is distinguished from traditional litigation by the following essential core elements which are set forth in the contractual agreement that the parties and the collaborative professionals enter into at the outset of the case:
- to negotiate a mutually agreeable settlement without using the court to decide any issue;
- to engage in open communication and information sharing with full disclosure
- to search for and create shared solutions that take into account the important goals and priorities of both parties; and,
- for all professionals involved in the case to withdraw if either party leaves the collaborative process and proceeds to go to court.
Thus, a hallmark of the Collaborative Practice process is that agreement is reached through discussion, negotiation and compromise without the financial and emotional cost, aggravation and uncertainty of adversarial litigation at court.
One way the Collaborative model differs from Mediation is that in Collaboration, the party’s lawyers are present in meetings offering a greater level of support. This may be important or even necessary for one or both spouses.
