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Collaborative Law
Why Collaborative Family Law? Chances are, if you are reading this, you have either decided to get a divorce or you have been told by your spouse that he or she wants a divorce. Either way, you are likely at a place in your life you did not expect to be. You may feel as though you have no control over the situation that is before you. With Collaborative Law, you do have a choice. You can decide what legacy you want to leave when it comes to your divorce. The legacy of your divorce will likely be remembered by you, your spouse, your extended families, your friends and most importantly your children. Do you want to leave the legacy of a battle? The legacy of hate? The legacy of conflict? The legacy of having changed your children's lives by putting them in the middle, and perhaps causing them to be in the middle forever? If this is not the legacy you want to leave in the wake of your divorce, then Collaborative Divorce is something you should consider. What is it? There are some basic elements of Collaborative Law that will provide you with a brief introduction. - Collaborative Law is a cooperative conflict resolution tool for parties going through a divorce or other family law dispute.
- You and your spouse are each represented by a separate attorney trained to provide effective collaborative representation.
- You, your spouse and your attorneys sign an agreement that commits all participants to good-faith negotiations, without the threat of going to court.
- Each party agrees to provide voluntary and continuing disclosure of all information that a reasonable decision maker would need to make an informed decision about all issues.
- The commitment by all is that it is in everyone's best interest to avoid litigation and instead, to create shared solutions to the issues that arise.
- Once an agreement is reached, it is submitted to the court for approval and to become a binding order of the court.
- Parties are free to terminate the process at any time, but if an agreement cannot be reached, both parties will need to seek new legal counsel to proceed with litigation.
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