What to Expect in a Collaborative Divorce

What to Expect in a Collaborative Divorce

Your divorce does not have to involve a court battle.  

Collaborative divorce is a form of alternative dispute resolution that allows the spouses, with the help of a team of professionals, to customize a settlement that is designed for their family’s particular situation.  

The participants in a collaborative divorce are the two spouses, their two attorneys, a child specialist (if there are children in the family), and a financial neutral who assists with the cash flow plan and the property division decisions.  The financial neutral and the child specialist will attend sessions as needed. The spouses and their attorneys will be present at each session.

The spouses and their attorneys will sign a contract at the first meeting, and this contract is called a Collaborative Pledge.  In that pledge you will agree to basic collaborative ground rules, including full and voluntary disclosure of all financial documents and a promise to not file any court action during the collaborative process. 

The team meets in a series of sessions that typically last two hours each. The participants are in charge of the meeting schedule and can arrange the meetings to accommodate professional commitments and work schedules. The number of meetings that will be required depends on the number and the complexity of the issues to be resolved. You can expect to have at least four meetings. You may occasionally meet privately with your attorney between sessions.  You may also expect to meet with the child specialist and/or the financial neutral outside of the scheduled sessions.

You can expect an agenda for each meeting and homework between meetings to insure all necessary information and documentation is available as you work through each issue. 

As the collaborative process proceeds, the attorneys will be working on a settlement document that will contain the details of your agreement.  You can expect to sign the settlement document and any associated documents at the final session. 

Your actual divorce must be granted by a judge and the division of certain kinds of retirement benefits must be approved by a judge. However, your collaborative attorney can appear at the hearing on your behalf and neither spouse is required to go to court.