85% of Divorce Cases Belong Out of Court. Why Should Yours Be Different?
What if there was a divorce process where you could keep your case out of court, have your lawyer commit in writing to save you money, and ensure the best relationship with your kids after divorce? Well there is! It’s called collaborative divorce.
Work Together
To Create An Agreement
In a collaborative divorce, both participants have professional guidance to help them resolve their differences. Rather than battling it out in a court room, you both work together to reach an agreement.
Collaborative divorce can be more cost-effective than traditional divorce. On average, collaborative divorce costs no more than one quarter to one-half the cost of litigation.
A collaborative communication coach can help you develop the tools to better communicate with your children moving forward. A collaborative child specialist can give your children a voice in the process.
Collaborative divorce happens out-of-court in a private setting. It results in a cooperatively crafted agreement between the parties about the terms on which they will end their marriage.
Collaborative Divorce is an out of court legal process enabling couples to work together to achieve a settlement that will satisfy both parties and protect children.
Step 2. Select a Professional
If you and your spouse decide to get a collaborative divorce, the steps are straightforward. Click on a photo to contact a collaborative professional to learn more.
Step 3. Build Your Team
Your attorney can explain the role of the other professionals on a collaborative team, including a neutral financial professional, child specialists, and one or two communication coaches. You and your spouse will determine which of these professionals is the best “fit” for your case and they will become part of the “team.”
You and your spouse must each have your own attorney.
Financial Professional
The two of you work with a Divorce Financial Professional to analyze your options.
Collaborative Divorce Agreement
All Professionals and both spouses sign a Collaborative Divorce Agreement that no one will go to court.
Child Specialist
You may also choose to work with a Child Specialist to identify any issues your children are having.
Collaborative Coach
You will have your own Mental Health Professionals to provide you with emotional support.
Step 4. Make an Agreement
Collaborative Divorce helps you work with your spouse, instead of against him/her. (Yes, with help, you can do that!) It helps you dissolve your marriage respectfully. It allows you to come up with creative ways to structure your personal and financial lives both during and after your divorce. What’s most important is that minimizes the damage to your children. Both parties are able to retain more control over divorce outcomes and can tailor solutions to best meet family needs and dynamics. The potential to maximize each party’s best interests is much more attainable than in a traditional divorce.
Step 5. Finalize Your Divorce
Once an agreement is reached, it’s drafted in a legally binding form and submitted to the court for approval. The collaborative process means that nearly always, your divorce will be an uncontested and straightforward procedure. If you have children together, you and your spouse will be parents forever. If you go through a hotly contested divorce, that affects your ability to parent your children together. A Collaborative Divorce helps you develop new ways to communicate with your spouse. Those new communication processes can be invaluable after your divorce is over.
Join our network of Collaborative lawyers, financial neutrals and communication coaches!
As a collaborative professional whether you are a licensed family attorney, mental health professional or financial expert you have the ability to help families in incredibly difficult situations. We are hoping to expand our platform nationwide in order to assist those families and individuals through collaborative process. In order to expand, we need professionals whom understand how to collaborate with each other and ultimately help resolve disputes in a timely and amicable way. Collaborative Law became an Arizona Family Court Rule in 2016. Rule 67.1 allows clients to sign a contract and build a team to keep their case out of court.