How To Benefit From a Collaborative Divorce and Questions to Ask Before Hiring a (Collaborative) Lawyer

Before choosing the proper divorce lawyer, you need to reflect on how you would define a successful divorce. Many people think success is limited to the bottom line outcome. Sadly, however, those individuals often fail to understand that the “costs” of divorce do not necessarily end when the court enters the final divorce judgment.

Nearly every divorce simultaneously involves a “transactional divorce” and an “emotional divorce”. In choosing a lawyer, both aspects of divorce should be addressed, preferably at the same time. Otherwise, the expense of your divorce may last far beyond the split, especially when children are involved.

The recent trend today is to define success in terms of long-term sustainability – not just in the pocketbook, but also as it relates to you and your family’s emotional health. One alternative approach to the traditional divorce process that many divorcing couples are electing to explore is Collaborative divorce. Collaborative divorce is an out-of-court, non-trial process. Each party hires a select team of trained professionals which includes a collaboratively trained lawyer for each party. Depending on the specifics of your case, you and your spouse will include in the team a financial neutral, divorce coach(es) for the parties and/or a child specialist. Along with your lawyer, these trained advisors simultaneously, and with precision, help clients and their children address both the emotional and transactional divorce.

In the Collaborative approach, both the parties and team members enter into a contract called a Participation Agreement, which is founded on the principles of open exchange of information.  This contract largely prohibits anyone from going to court for any reason other than to enter the divorce judgment. Such a prohibition completely changes the negotiations from one of the positional bargaining to one based on your interests and that of your children. Entering into an agreement to resolve your divorce out of court is not a decision you should make lightly. Also, choosing the proper collaboratively trained lawyer is vital to achieving the desired result.