What You Didn't Know About Collaborative Law Divorce

Collaborative law divorces involve couples that wish to come to a mutual agreement on all issues that related to their divorce, in the absence of legal intervention. Generally, couples enter into these agreements by utilizing a collaborative divorce attorney. Collaborative law divorces help couples to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement in a quick and efficient manner. However, a collaborative divorce attorney only represents the interests of one spouse.

In fact, a collaborative law attorney will generally not even offer advice to the spouse that is not his/her client. Collaborative law divorce is generally much cheaper than all other types of divorce. For example, there are less steps, time, and money involved in this type of divorce, as opposed to a contested divorce. Couples that utilize this service often find that an agreement can be reached in a timely fashion, while avoiding added conflict that is generally associated with litigation.

Generally, a collaborative divorce attorney requires that both spouses sign an agreement waiving their individual right to begin divorce proceedings in court. In fact, the goal of collaborative law divorce is to avoid litigation and come to an agreement in the absence of intervention from the courts. However, after the process is complete, the collaborative divorce attorney will seek final approval from the judge in regards to the settlement. In this type of divorce, spouses work together to achieve the best possible outcome for all involved parties, especially any children involved.

This process cannot effectively be utilized by all couples, as it requires that the couple spend time together, working through very difficult decisions. This process involves a lot of give and take on the part of both spouses. However, spouses should realize that litigation will cost them both more money and time in the long run. Therefore, collaboration in the absence of litigation can save them more money than they agree to give up. In other words, a spouse that agrees to an equal distribution of property may get a lower percentage of assets for which they had originally hoped.

In cases where couples cannot reach an agreement, they must retain the services of new lawyers; collaborative divorce attorneys do not take part in the litigation process. In fact, couples involved in the process agree to avoid litigation, but sometimes cannot do so because of a lack of ability to come to an agreement on all issues. In general, couples arrive an agreement by taking part in focused discussion in the absence of accusations and blame generally found in the court room.