Divorce can be a highly emotional and expensive process.
California and other states offer collaborative divorce as a less adversarial option than a traditional divorce. In collaborative divorce the parties work with attorneys and other professionals outside of a courtroom to resolve their issues.
As part of the collaborative divorce process, each spouse works with his or her respective attorney in conjunction with other professionals to resolve divorce issues in a series of meetings. Like you, your attorney will commit to collaboration and agree not to go to court, so you are all motivated to reach a resolution together.
The team includes each attorney plus the following members:
- Financial Specialists: Accountants and financial professionals help with property appraisal, determination of income, categorization of assets and debts, and other related matters.
- Child Specialists: Experts trained to provide insight into custody arrangements that may be in a child’s best interests and address the child’s needs.
- Divorce Coaches: Mental health professionals who help explain or translate the emotional and health-related needs of the parties involved or to facilitate communication between the two parties and assist with emotional expression.
All of these professionals are also committed to helping divorcing spouses find mutually acceptable solutions. As neutral professionals in their respective fields, they are knowledgeable resources that are able to offer unique insight and explain complex issues.
Keep in mind, that you will ultimately make the decisions on the agreements you reach throughout this process. These professionals cannot make the decisions for you and instead are available to help you make informed decisions that take accurate, relevant data into account.
Again, collaborative divorce focuses on working together with others to tailor solutions for your family. As such, being open to input and guidance from various, experienced sources can be a critical part of the process which allows you and your spouse to reach a full agreement.
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Articles and resources from Hal Bartholomew on collaborative divorce, mediation, and family law in Sacramento.