We don’t all have to be like Frank and Jamie McCourt when it comes to divorce. We don’t have to battle it out in court, in front of the media, and face the daily scrutiny of a world that watches our every move. In fact, divorces don’t have to be adversarial at all. To the McCourts, and everyone out there who believes there must be a better way to resolve issues in a divorce than through intense litigation – there is. It’s called Collaborative Divorce, and there are at least $35 million reasons reasonable adults my want to go this route.
COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE
Collaborative Divorce is a family law sub-specialty that gives people like you, Frank, or Jamie an effective way to resolve your divorce – and other family law issues – in a respectful, dignified manner. This means neither you nor your lawyer would ever have the need to go to court. It also means that you and your spouse will never be treated as opposing parties in an adversarial and hostile litigation process. Instead, the two of you would be able to retain full control of your divorce case.
Your Collaborative attorney can guide you through all the issues that need to be addressed, and they can work diligently with your spouse’s Collaborative lawyer to settle your case. Your Collaborative attorney will sift through the parties’ differing perspectives and help you develop reasonable alternatives. You and your spouse will make all the decisions. The resulting agreement will truly be yours – not one that has been imposed upon you.
The Collaborative Experience
Through the entire collaborative process, lawyer and client work together through each step in searching for a fair settlement for both parties and the entire family. This is accomplished through a series of meetings between the two parties and their lawyers, and sometimes other neutral experts on an as need basis.
The primary focus of the four-way meetings is to identify your priorities, goals, needs, and interests, and to help you progress toward and create a settlement that is consistent with both spouses’ priorities, goals, needs, and interests. You make your own decisions based on your own standards, and the Collaborative attorneys provide the professional expertise based on many years of experience and training.
Next time, Frank and Jamie, please consider a Collaborative Divorce, so we, the public don’t have to listen to all your dirty laundry. There are at least 35 million good reasons to do so.