Collaborative Law Divorce – What is it?
Collaborative Law is a recent approach by specially trained and accredited family lawyers nationwide to manage divorce in a more dignified way.
We are convinced that the Collaborative Law approach is the future for family work, with sensitive, specially trained collaborative Family Lawyers working together to sort out problems quickly and cost effectively, avoiding the stress, delay and confrontational approach that any court application can involve.
The collaborative approach can be used to resolve many different types of family dispute, including:
• Divorce and / or separation or breakdown of Civil Partnership
• Disputes concerning children including issues regarding removal of children from the Jurisdiction, contact, residence and specific issues, for example which school a child should attend
• Financial matters
• Pre-nuptial agreements
• Living together agreements for cohabiting couples
• Disputes concerning couples who have been cohabiting
• Other family issues for example those involving Grandparents or other relatives
Collaborative Law Divorce – How It Works
• In the Collaborative Law approach, all parties agree in writing to reach a settlement without Court involvement – agreeing to work together to sort out all relevant issues. The terms of this agreement are recorded in a document known as a Participation Agreement.
• Collaborative law is about considering the best options for the future of you and your family. There are no winners or losers but all parties work together with their lawyers to consider all the options available and which are best suited to their needs.•
• Collaborative Law helps the parties retain a relationship in the future. Any parents will realise communication between parents has to continue even when their marriage or relationship breaks down. There will still be times when both parties have to continue working together for the sake of the children eg parents evenings, graduations, weddings and even future grandchildren.
• The parties and their respective lawyers choose to have a series of four way meetings. Each lawyer must be trained to act collaboratively.
• Clients remain in control of the process with lawyers there throughout for legal advice and guidance. Utilising their skills in negotiation and problem-solving, collaborative family lawyers help clients shape a fair agreement which is tailored to meet the clients needs. Legal advice is given but this is far less than a traditional case this enables the clients to reach a fair agreement which suits their particular needs.
• Correspondence between lawyers is discouraged, keeping down costs and helping parties sort out separation in an amicable way.
• As trained collaborative lawyers we have a network of other professionals who are on hand to provide expert advice in their area of specialism throughout the process. This can include Financial Advisers, Accountants and Pension Actuaries [ Actuaries are specialists at valuing pensions].
• Unlike Family Mediation, where a mediator usually advises both parties with lawyers excluded from much of the mediation process, in Collaborative Law both parties have their own lawyer present for advice throughout. Please note that we also have a qualified family mediators as part of our family law team.
• If settlement cannot be reached then both husband and wife must appoint new firms of solicitors to deal with the Court proceedings. There is therefore a strong incentive for both clients and solicitors to reach a fair settlement.
To see whether a Collaborative Law Divorce is right for you – call our team today
OR email our team using the email contact form below