What is Collaborative Divorce?
A collaborative divorce can have many advantages over a court-based divorce:
- The ability to move on with your life as quickly as you and your spouse agree, rather than waiting for a court date.
- The opportunity to be in control of your own future without regard to who has the most assertive attorney.
- The ability to decide custody and financial issues jointly with long-term child development and financial advice.
- The power to move forward with your lives with a focus on the future.
- The chance to save money because a collaborative divorce can cost less than a court divorce while providing enhanced value.
- The protection of privacy since the details of your divorce will be between you and your spouse, rather than being aired publicly.
- The primary focus on your children when making long-term plans.
- The focus on a mutually-beneficial outcome through a financial settlement that takes into account the well-being of both parties.
- The intention to remain on good terms with your former partner or spouse by reducing animosity when making decisions regarding your children.
- The protection of positive relationships with your children after the divorce.
- The choice to prevent even more pain and anguish, which can be the result of a courtroom battle.
How Collaborative Divorce Works
Collaborative divorce allows couples to resolve their conflicts through a series of amicable, constructive meetings between the two spouses and their respective legal representatives. Successful collaborative divorce requires that both spouses be willing to work together and be as forthcoming as necessary, especially when it comes to sharing relevant documents and important information.
In many cases, non-legal professionals (such as financial advisors, child psychologists, mediators, etc.) are brought in to advise couples during collaborative divorce. Both spouses have their respective expert teams and are thus able to make informed decisions throughout the process. This often benefits children, and the mental health professionals involved are able to meaningfully weigh in on parenting arrangements, child custody, etc.
Despite the many benefits of collaborative divorce, couples may not be able to work out their differences, even with a team of professionals on their side. Such divorces may still end up in court, at which point both parties must hire attorneys (if they do not already have them) and prepare for court.
The process for a collaborative divorce has several steps that should be taken in order to make it a success:
- Beginning the Process & Evaluating Your Options: Don’t begin the divorce process blindly. If you and your spouse have decided to call it quits, consider collaborative divorce as a first line of defense and consult with an experienced divorce attorney to make sure you understand the options available to you.
- Negotiation: Negotiation is key to collaborative divorce. One of the many benefits of having a diverse team of skilled professionals on your side is that you can factor in their expertise and knowledge when negotiating the terms of your split, such as property division, child custody, and other matters which will directly affect your family, future, and finances for years to come. If you are willing to compromise, negotiate, and work with your spouse in order to resolve the complex aspects of your divorce, you may be able to reach a much more positive outcome than if your divorce were to go to court.
- Agreements: Much of the purpose of collaborative divorce is to help couples reach agreements that both spouses consider satisfactory and that benefit all parties involved. When it comes to legal agreements such as Marital Settlement Agreements and Parenting Plans, collaborative divorce can prove especially valuable, especially since it allows couples to create such agreements without having to appear in court or go before a judge.
- Implementation of Terms: After deciding on the terms of divorce during collaboration, couples and families must then fulfill the terms on which they have agreed. This can be difficult, even though both spouses were involved in forging the agreements in question. Collaborative divorce provides couples with continued access to the professionals who were involved in helping them craft their divorce agreements, which can help them gain valuable insight and wise counsel when questions come up regarding parenting agreements and other complex issues.
Our New Mexico collaborative divorce attorneys can help. Contact us online or give us a call today to set up a consultation.
