It is helpful to understand the collaborative law divorce process step-by-step. Divorcing couples considering utilizing the collaborative law divorce process should be familiar with what the process entails and how to progress through the process to resolve their divorce.
Step-by-step look at the collaborative divorce process
At the beginning of the collaborative divorce process, each of the spouses hires their own attorney to represent them. The attorney will help them through the collaborative divorce process. If the divorcing couple decides to proceed to a litigated divorce, their attorneys will need to withdraw according to the collaborative divorce process.
The spouses sign a collaborative law divorce agreement that states if they proceed to divorce court to litigate their divorce, their attorneys will be required to withdraw from their representation.
Each spouse meets with their attorney alone. During that meeting, they can let their attorney know what they want to achieve in their divorce settlement and what they can consider compromising on.
The spouses and their respective attorneys then meet. There may be a series of meetings between the spouses and their attorneys and these may occur on a regular basis. They may also include impartial experts to help them resolve divorce-related concerns such as child custody experts or accountants. A mediator or attorney trained as a mediator may also be brought in to guide the negotiations.
Once a divorce settlement agreement has been reached between the spouses, they can simply file it with the family law court in an uncontested fashion.
The collaborative divorce process can save on time, money and stress. It is worth both considering and understanding how the process works and what is can do for divorcing couples.