COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE
Collaborative Divorce is a relatively new concept in family law. The goal of the Collaborative Divorce law practice is to provide a respectful and defined out-of-court process which would produce outcomes that meet the needs of all parties and increase the parties’ control, privacy and compliance with agreements. The court only become involved in reviewing and approving the parties' out-of-court agreement.
Do not let yourselves be fooled by the name though, Collaborative Divorce is usually not a merry-go-round without thorny issues and gray areas; it is rather a better medium to resolve a divorce when the parties are more inclined towards a negotiated solution and agree that taking things to court tends to cause things to spin out of control.
To commence the Collaborative Divorce process, the parties sign a Participation Agreement that provides for full disclosure and stipulates that if the Collaborative Process fails, then both Collaborative lawyers resign and the parties are required to obtain new counsel; the stated goal is to remove the threat of litigation and keep the parties working together toward a shared resolution.
Collaborative Divorce often involves a team of additional professionals such as a divorce coach for each party, a child specialist, and/or a neutral financial analyst. The parties, counsel, and any other professionals involved meet regularly to move through a defined process to reach a resolution that is directed by the parties’ articulated goals.
Collaborative Divorce can provide a supportive system for resolving difficult issues and can improve how the parties interact and solve problems in the future, but it demands active participation from both parties to succeed and the possibility of having to obtain new counsel in the event an agreement is not reached can be intimidating to some clients as well as wasteful.
In conclusion, collaborative divorce is not for everyone but in certain situations it can be beneficial, such as when both parties are fairly well educated about their rights and they want to avoid a "bloodshed" for the benefit of their children and/or their future relationship.
(c) 2011 Law Office of Emilian Bucataru PLLC. Some information courtesy of AAML's Divorce Manual: A Client Handbook