Collaborative Divorce: Is it Right for You? How It Works
Divorce is almost always difficult. That said, collaborative divorce can afford couples the opportunity to work together and keep their cases out of court. Collaborative divorce strikes a balance between divorce mediation and litigated divorce, and while each party retains decision-making authority throughout the collaborative process, there are specific constraints that apply.
Specifically, the parties’ attorneys agree to withdraw from the case in the event that they are unable to reach an agreement. This means that the divorcing couple has a significant incentive to reach an agreement. If they don’t, they will have to start from scratch with new lawyers. If you’re facing a divorce and are interested in the collaborative process, reach out to an experienced Washington collaborative divorce attorney today.
What is Collaborative Divorce?
The intention of collaborative divorce is to promote cooperation between the two spouses in order to avoid ending up in court. The goal is to negotiate a resolution to the issues that need to be resolved as effectively and efficiently as possible without resorting to litigation. Any one of the basic terms of
divorce can become a sticking point in the divorce process, and they include:
A collaborative divorce incorporates
collaborative law, and the primary players include:
- You and your collaborative divorce attorney – who has extensive training in the collaborative divorce process as well as in mediation skills
- Your divorcing spouse and their collaborative divorce attorney must undergo the same rigorous training
When a specific divorce term is complex or especially heated, additional professionals may join the team – in the capacity of neutral third parties – including:
- Finance professionals
- Professionals with expertise in child custody
- Mental health professionals
In especially challenging cases, a professional mediator may be called in to help keep the collaborative divorce process moving smoothly forward.
What Is the Collaborative Divorce Process?
To begin, you will meet with your collaborative divorce attorney – and your divorcing spouse will meet with theirs – to discuss your divorce goals and priorities. From here, both sides will come together to engage in the collaborative process. All of the following parameters apply to collaborative divorce, and it’s important that each makes sense in relation to your unique case:
- Both parties and their collaborative divorce attorneys must sign a participation agreement.
- Both parties must agree to fully participate in the collaborative divorce process and to engage in a good faith, open exchange of information that is relevant to the divorce.
- The parties must agree to maintain the status quo – or the current terms – in relation to their marital assets and their shared children throughout the collaborative process unless they reach a mutually acceptable alternate decision.
- The parties must set forth the conditions that can terminate the collaborative divorce process without an agreement being reached.
In those cases in which the collaborative divorce process proves unsuccessful, neither party can continue to be represented by their collaborative divorce attorney, and such cases are generally resolved in court.
What Is the Difference between Divorce Mediation and Divorce Collaboration?
Collaborative divorce differs from mediation in several primary ways. At divorce mediation, the two spouses – along with their respective divorce attorneys – come together under the guidance of a professional mediator who serves in the role of a neutral third party. While mediation is binding in those instances when both parties are able to find a middle ground that they’re each willing to sign off on, failing to resolve divorce terms at mediation has no primary disadvantages – other than proceeding to court.
Collaborative divorce, on the other hand, involves the two teams – you and your collaborative divorce attorney and your spouse and theirs – coming together to hammer out mutually acceptable terms between yourselves. Collaborative divorce requires a signed commitment to the process, and when the parties can’t reach an agreement, they must begin again with different lawyers.
Some of the primary distinctions between mediation and collaboration include the following:
- While mediation can include reports from outside experts, such as financial reports obtained by either side, the involved parties are limited to each side, their respective legal representation, and the mediator.
- The collaborative process can include outside professionals who are present in the capacity of providing neutral expertise.
- Mediation is guided by a neutral mediator, while the collaborative process involves a back-and-forth between the two parties.
- Mediation is more likely to be a stepping stone toward litigation, while the collaborative process requires a more significant commitment to avoiding court and includes consequences for failing to do so.
How Collaborative Divorce Works
What makes collaborative divorce work as well as it often does is the fact that both sides are committed to the following:
- They are each committed to resolving the terms of their divorce outside of court.
- They are each committed to maintaining decision-making authority about primary factors that will directly affect their parental and financial rights.
- They are each committed to applying themself in good faith to the process.
- They each recognize that failing to settle the matter through the collaborative process comes with significant consequences.
Ultimately, collaborative divorce works when both spouses are genuinely committed to engaging in compromises that honor the rights of both, which can be a tall order – but is by no means an impossibility – in the midst of an emotionally challenging divorce.
How Could Collaborative Divorce Provide Some Solutions?
Collaborative divorce can help couples find solutions in a range of primary ways.
Understanding of the Process
When a couple heads into a collaborative divorce, they have been vetted on the process and have accepted the significant commitment that comes with it. As such, there are unlikely to be any surprises. They know which terms need to be resolved, and they are prepared to negotiate compromises that they both find acceptable.
Children’s Well-Being
Children can be seriously scarred by divorce, and a divorce that goes all the way to court tends to protract the already-difficult process and is far more likely to become an emotional battle. Parents who choose to put their children’s emotional well-being first often turn to the collaborative divorce process as a means of mitigating the pain their children experience.
Privacy
When a divorce goes to court, the proceedings become a matter of public record – except in those few cases when the records are sealed. Many couples find this fact a powerful motivator when it comes to choosing the collaborative process, which is a private matter.
Self-Determination
Collaborative divorce puts the matter of resolving the terms of a divorce squarely in the hands of each spouse. There is no mediator to guide their decision-making, and each retains full authority over primary decisions that will shape their futures. Very few divorcing couples relish the idea of a judge making these critical decisions for them, which is a definite plus of collaborative divorce.
What Is the Focus of Collaborative Divorce?
The focus of collaborative divorce tends to be on how the court is likely to rule in the case at hand and on finding compromises within this space. The court’s approach to basic divorce terms includes the following:
- Washington courts base every child custody determination on the involved children’s best interests, and they turn to best interest factors in their decision-making process.
- Child support is calculated according to a state methodology that includes a range of factors, but the primary concerns are the amount of parenting time each parent has and each parent’s earnings relative to the other’s.
- Washington is a community property state, which means that all the assets the couple comes to own while they are married generally must be divided between them equally in the event of divorce. Any separate property, on the other hand, remains the asset of its owner.
- Alimony is only awarded in Washington in those instances in which one spouse experiences a significant financial setback while the other has the financial resources to help. The longer the marriage and the more significant the financial disparity, the more likely alimony is to be awarded.
What is the Benefit of Collaborative Divorce?
Collaborative divorce comes with a range of benefits that make it especially appealing to many couples who are facing challenging divorces that they’d much prefer to keep out of court.
Collaboration
The primary benefit of the collaborative divorce process is that you and your spouse work together instead of against one another, which honors what it is that brought you together in the first place and paves the way toward a less painful experience.
Less Costly Process
Preparing to take a divorce to court is a costly endeavor that requires your divorce attorney to engage in careful preparations that take a considerable amount of time. The collaborative divorce process is almost guaranteed to be less expensive – unless you fail to reach a settlement and must proceed to court anyway.
Less Emotionally Draining Process
The collaborative divorce process can take some of the emotional sting out of divorce – for everyone involved, including the children. Both spouses are allowed to participate and guide the process, which can help turn down the heat on the matter significantly.
Fewer Fireworks
While you and your spouse may not emerge from the collaborative process as best friends, it’s unlikely to become as contentious or as emotionally scarring as litigation might. Ultimately, both spouses are required to commit to the process and to take responsibility for their own actions, and this accountability can go a long way toward keeping divorce drama at bay.
Less Time-Consuming Process
Divorce is painful, and no one wants it to drag on interminably. If you and your divorcing spouse both commit to the collaborative process and put your respective shoulders into it, you can expect the matter to be resolved much more quickly than it would be if your case went to trial. The court’s docket is extremely tight, which can make resolving your case via litigation an exceptionally lengthy process.
What Can Go Wrong in Collaboration?
The primary glitch when it comes to collaborative divorce is that, when it is not successful, it can make an already difficult, time-consuming, and costly process that much more so. To be successful, collaborative divorce requires an authentic commitment to the process by both parties and when this isn’t the case, it’s not a good option. Typically, what derails a collaborative divorce is one spouse’s inability to give an inch. If your spouse wants what they want and is using the collaborative divorce process as a means of forcing your hand, you’re almost certainly better off heading directly to court.
What Are the Disadvantages of Collaborative Law?
There are disadvantages to collaborative law in specific cases. If any of the following applies to your divorce, you likely need to reconsider your commitment to the collaborative approach:
- Your spouse is not genuinely interested in cooperating, compromising, or collaborating.
- Your divorce is especially complex, such as if you own a business or have high assets overall.
- You suspect your spouse of engaging in underhanded dealings, such as hiding or otherwise dissipating marital assets.
- Your spouse suffers from a mental illness or has a history of drug or alcohol addiction, domestic abuse, child abuse, or child neglect.
- Your spouse or your spouse’s attorney is not interested in engaging in a truly collaborative process.
- You need a neutral moderator, such as a mediator, to keep the process moving smoothly forward.
Further, the more third-party expertise you need to bring into the collaborative divorce process, the more costly it will be. Finally, if the collaborative divorce process does prove unsuccessful, you will be looking at considerably more expense than if you had gone directly to court.
Turn to an Experienced Washington Collaborative Divorce Attorney for the Help You Need
The focused collaborative divorce attorneys at Dobbs & Young in Yakima are fully committed to helping valued clients like you keep their divorces out of court and skillfully advocating for divorce terms that support their rights and best interests throughout the collaborative divorce process. Your case is important, so please don’t put off contacting or calling us at 509-577-9177 for more information today.
