Collaborative Divorce
Most common questions asked about Collaborative Law:
What is Collaborative Law?
What does Collaborative Divorce mean?
How is divorcing this way different?
Is Collaborative Law process more expensive?
Is the Collaborative Law process faster?
Collaborative Law provides a safe, neutral environment for the parties to meet with their
attorneys and expects such as mental health professional, financial professional and/or a child
facilitator professional. The collaborative process has a unique approach that focuses on the
parties, the family and the division of the property based on the interests of each party.
Collaborative divorce is the process in which you and your spouse will each have your own
specially trained and experienced collaborative professionals helping you navigating the
dissolution of your marriage. All the professionals help guide you through the divorce process
without manipulation and anger.
Each party will have to have a collaboratively trained attorney.
The parties and attorneys agree,
in writing, not to litigate the case in court. If either spouse withdrawals from the collaborative
process, you both will have to hire different lawyers and go the traditional litigation route,
essentially starting all over.
Using the collaborative divorce is the alternative to traditional litigation divorce. Traditional
divorce is conducted using the litigation model. Litigation
divorces have several stages in which
the parties must go through before it is either settled or makes it to trial.
These stages are:
1. Negotiations between the parties with their attorneys.
2. Mediation, and
3. Trial.
Each of these stages can engage the parties in formal discovery, court hearings, depositions,
court professionals such as custody evaluators or amicus attorneys. This process tends to be more
expensive and typically pits the parties against each other.
The collaborative law process is more interest based on the parties. The parties agree to never
take anything to court. Instead, the parties use a team that typically consists of a neutral mental
health professional and if needed a neutral financial professional and/or child facilitator
professional and their collaboratively trained attorneys to negotiate how to dissolve their
marriage.
There are no guarantees that using the collaborative law process is faster or less expensive than
non-collaborative cases. Going the traditional litigation process can result in several hearings,
mediation, and trial where a judge will decide what happens. Going the collaborative law process
way has the cost of two attorneys, mental health professional and possible mediation before an
agreement is made. Possession and access will be determined in this process for the children and
property division will be discussed and negotiated together in this process as well.
You and your family are going to go through a very big change. This change can be healthy,
downplay the conflicts that arise out of traditional litigation divorce and instead focus on the
solutions needed for you and your family moving forward and helps you
preserve your relationships.
Heather Hudson and her staff are collaborative trained. They believe in this process and help
their clients who choose this process see the benefits from start to finish. Heather Hudson will
assist in keeping negotiations productive and offer out of the box solutions that work for your
family. This approach helps you think long term, setting aside emotions to reach a health co-
parenting plan and sound solutions for division of your financial estate.
