Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce laws is where both parties hire their own counsel to assist them in reaching a settlement.  The difference between collaberative divorce and a normal divorce is that the attorneys are not involved in court proceedings and in fact if a settlement is not achieved, the attorneys then do not subsequently represent the parties in contested court proceedings.  So the attorneys’ roles are limited to assisting the clients to resolve their differences without the threat of court proceedings.  Collaborative divorce is very informal and involves four way meetings between the parties and their counsel, using open communications and full and open voluntary disclosure of information free of the threat of contested court proceedings.  Although collaborative divorce can be extremely useful in difficult cases, nevertheless, it is not recommended in cases of domestic violence, where there is the possibility or probability of hidden assets or where the parties have hidden agendas or unresolved personal issues.