Contrary to popular belief, not all marriages end in an acrimonious court case. For couples who are open to it, there are alternate methods of dispute resolution that will serve most of them well. One of those options is collaborative divorce, in which both parties give up the litigation option up front and spend their time negotiating under supervision of trained lawyers and professional coaches (counseling and finance).

While some people may be drawn to the process because it shortens the divorce process and its associated costs when it works, there are other reasons that collaborative law can be useful. For example, it can take much less of an emotional toll on participants than a contested court battle. Using a process that leaves both spouses in a good place emotionally is often appealing. This is particularly true when there are children involved.

Collaborative divorce it is a way to end a marriage without intervention from a court, except at the very end when the Judge puts the divorce through as a formality. The parties call upon neutral professionals, including mental health professionals, child specialists, business appraisers, and financial advisers, to help the couple work through issues such as child custody, child support, marital lifestyle assessment, cash flow analysis, alimony determination, and division of assets and debts. The idea behind is that a commitment by each party to respect the goals of the other will provide a free, voluntary, and open exchange of information and ideas, culminating in a mutually agreeable settlement.

In the collaborative process, each side has an attorney. It is important to note that not all lawyers are familiar with this approach. This makes selecting the attorney who represents you, an integral part of the process. In addition, if for some reason the collaborative approach does not work, both spouses are required to find new attorneys to represent them in court. This can be not only time consuming but expensive as well.

Before leaving the collaborative process, therefore, both parties should consider bringing in a professionally trained and experienced divorce mediator to seek facilitation of the impasse issues, followed by a professionally trained and experienced divorce arbitrator to “call” the remaining issues, without right of appeal.

While collaborative divorce requires a high level of commitment from both parties to make the process work, for those who adhere to the process, it well worth the effort. For all others, the litigation option beckons.

Source: CNBC, “Collaborative divorce can ease emotional, economic stress,” Deborah Nason, May 2, 2014