Getting Through Divorce One Day at a Time

Nearly everyone has witnessed or knew someone that had a messy divorce. Messy, in this case, meaning that the couple fought over nearly every issue that could be contested in court. These types of partings can give divorce a bad name, and if you and your spouse are contemplating a divorce you should understand that it doesn't have to resemble a battlefield when you split up. If you desire, your divorce can be as peaceful and stress-free as you want it to be. Read on to learn how you can have a better divorce using collaborative divorce techniques:

What is meant by collaborative divorce?

This way of legally ending a marriage has been around for a while but has been slowly gaining an increased amount of interest of late. In order for a collaborative divorce to be successful, both parties in the marriage should be of the same mind: that they want to work out issues ahead of time using negotiation strategies and to keep the issues out of court. Additionally, the attorneys for the two parties should be on board with the collaborative divorce plan.

It takes a team

Depending on the individual couple, several team members may be called upon to help resolve issues. For example, for custody issues, a child custody evaluation expert might be brought in to do a child study to help determine who is the best custodial parent for the minor child. Or a financial planning expert might be called upon to help the couple divide up the debt and property of the marital estate.

What does the collaborative system look like?

1. In addition to having both parties, the attorneys, and other team members agreeing on the premise, both parties must provide honest and complete disclosure when it comes to all issues, such as financial records pertaining to property and debt.
2. The couple works together and hammers out agreements on uncontested issues.
3. More contentious issues are taken on one at a time. Conflict resolution techniques are employed to encourage compromises and agreements. Often, some the more contentious issues can involve emotional ones, such as those revolving around minor children.
4. The end-goal of the collaborative process is the divorce agreement. When all parties are in agreement and sign the form, it is filed with the court and becomes legally binding.

Collaborative divorces tend to be a lot less stressful on both parties, cost less and take less time to resolve. Talk to your divorce attorney to get more information about your own collaborative divorce.