Collaborative Divorce Process
For couples who wish to separate or divorce outside of the court system but feel they need more support than working in the mediation process, the collaborative process offers an alternative that still allows the spouses or parents to speak up for what is important to each of them, and to hear each other directly as in mediation, but with the support of a collaborative divorce attorney, a family specialist and a financial specialist as part of the interdisciplinary team.
The family specialist is a trained mental health professional who meets with each spouse or parent prior to the first full collaborative meeting and then attends that first meeting as a neutral participant who serves several important purposes: keeping the meeting moving forward, reflecting and tempering any emotions that may flare up, and if necessary, calling for a break to speak to one person needing support, and/or serving as a mediator between the attorneys.
A financial neutral may also attend the meetings as needed as well as help the spouses prepare budgets, tax impact asset division and help provide information either individually or together. This team approach gives the spouses the greatest chance of a successful outcome with each member of the couple getting the particular level of support they need.
The basis for the collaborative process is the participation agreement, which is signed by all participants, and states that if the collaborative process were to end before full agreement, the lawyers would step out and litigation counsel would be engaged. This keeps the spectre of litigation from hanging over the collaborative process and keeps the lawyers committed to moving the process forward to resolution.
The structure of the collaborative process is as follows:
Each spouse engages a collaboratively-trained attorney. There are lists of collaboratively trained attorneys here:
Each party meets with a mutually-agreed family specialist and the first full collaborative meeting is scheduled.
Prior to the full collaborative meeting, each attorney meets with his or her client and the professional collaborative team has a telephone meeting to set the prospective agenda and review a report from the family specialist on potential hot button issues.
The agenda is circulated for any client additions and the full collaborative meeting is held.
After the meeting the professional collaborative team debriefs and the attorneys debrief with their client, discussing what went well and what could go better next time.
Progress Notes are circulated including homework to complete before the next meeting.
This process continues until resolution of all issues.
The attorneys draft the agreement and present it to the clients for comments and changes, and the agreement is ultimately signed.