Collaborative Divorce.
Divorce doesn’t have to be traumatic.
It can be an opportunity for healing.
Benefits of Collaborative Divorce.
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Collaborative Team.
Rather than going to court to hoping that the jdge punishes one party and rewards your case, Collaborative Divorce minimizes the conflict that typically takes place. Couples have the opportunity to approach their divorce privately and more peacefully.
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Time Efficient.
According to the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP), 31% of cases ended in less than 3 months, 33% of cases ended within 3 - 6 months, 31% of cases ended within 6 - 12 months, and only 5% of cases took more than 12 months.
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Cost Effective
In Collaborative Divorce all neutral professionals are paid on a retainer usually through the couple’s joint account, or an agreement is made on where the payment comes from. In traditional litigation, one couple might have the upper hand if their access to finances is greater, making for uneven playing field with the lawyers in court. In Collaborative Divorce, cash upfront for the attorneys and team makes for a smoother process where everyone feels at ease and has common direction with clear goals.
Divorce without fighting your spouse in court.
Don’t leave decisions up to a judge when you know your needs best. Collaborative Divorce allows you to privately and peacefully resolve issues regarding your specific settlement matters.
What should I know about Collaborative Divorce?
What exactly is Collaborative Divorce?
Collaborative Divorce is an option available to clients divorcing to approach divorce outside of the courtroom through confidential and cost-effective processes. A team of neutral professionals including a mental health counselor, financial expert, and Collaborative lawyer for each client comes together to help build options for the clients and their families. The Collaborative Divorce team assists clients in creatively building flexible solutions for them and their families. Clients and all neutral professionals sign a “collaborative participation agreement” binding clients and neutral professionals under the agreement to resolve issues outside of litigation. The agreement states that the lawyers involved in this Collaborative Divorce agreement cannot participate in litigation / contested court proceedings on behalf of those clients should the case not be resolved. This disqualification clause is also what makes the process different from litigation and mediation.
What type of Florida family matters does Collaborative assist with?
The Collaborative process can help families in Florida with issues including divorce, paternity, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and family changes / modification. Including, but not limited to parenting plans, child support, alimony, division of assets and liabilities, marital property distribution and business and property values, premarital, marital, and postmarital agreements, etc.
Why would someone choose the Collaborative Divorce process?
When families fight, no one comes out a winner. Collaborative Divorce affords clients, and their families affected, the opportunity to divorce privately and amicably. Families with kids get to build and choose a parenting plan with flexibility and parameters that works best for them. The process decreases stress, confrontation, and long-term pain in the aftermath of litigation. While keeping financial, personal, or business matters private and confidential during your divorce, you are also in the driver’s seat making decisions rather than a judge, on how you and your partner / family moves forward. You make the decisions, not a judge, who is a total stranger. You know the intimate details of your life better than a judge does. Most couples who choose this process of divorce are looking for an option where they will not be drained emotionally and financially at the end.
How is it cheaper when I have to pay more people than just my attorney?
Having a team assist in your divorce, actually speeds up the process. So up front, you are paying additional professionals besides your attorney, however it is with the purpose and intention that the process moves with efficiency. This approach protects people’s sensitive personal and financial information out of the public court records.
According to the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP):
“Thirty percent of collaborative cases in Florida cost less than $25,000.00 for the whole family, which covers the services of the lawyer for each spouse, the mental health facilitator, and the financial expert.”
How is the divorce process faster through Collaborative Divorce opposed to Litigation?
It all depends on the nature of your relationship, however, traditional courtroom divorces can take years to resolve. Through the Collaborative Divorce process, cases can resolve more quickly through the resources available within the process. The Collaborative Divorce process is more efficient according to the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP), showing statistics that “78% of collaborative divorce cases in Florida complete in less than 6 months, and over 91% complete in less than 9 months. In Florida, more than 85% of all collaborative cases end with a full agreement.” According to the The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP), 86% of Collaborative matters ended in a full resolution of all issues, while an additional 2% of clients decided to stay in their relationship. Even when a full agreement was not reached, substantial progress was often made on parenting issues and understanding finances.
What are the advantages and benefits of the Neutral Professional team in Collaborative Divorce?
In the Collaborative Divorce process, you are paying each professional to do what they are trained professionally to do best. And while doing so, they are working with the team who is staying in their lane to do what they are best qualified for. Resolving family disputes in this way allows for effective team building options to be solved, rather than trying to win-over a judge. Rather than hiring experts to compete in a litigation, the experts you hire are all in your best interest. Instead of having lawyers fight head to head, possibly magnifying minimal disputes in order to have the judge favor them and punish the opposing party, the Collaborative process relieves the couple from paying their lawyer’s hourly rates on a parenting plan, digging up bank statements, business records, or other documents. Within the collaborative participation agreement, the neutral professional’s are paid their retainer and everybody is future oriented and forward thinking, rather than trying to weaponize the past.
