Want to Engage In a Reasonable Divorce Process?
So you’ve decided you have to get a divorce. The marriage is no longer viable for either of you, and you need to part ways. It’s a difficult decision, and most people think the first thing to do is hire a lawyer to protect themselves against their spouse. But there is an alternative that is cost-effective, and, for couples who are still on good speaking terms, far more peaceful. It’s called collaborative divorce.
Collaborative divorce is a very specific kind of divorce process in which family law lawyers and specialists with expertise in areas related to divorce work together to help you and your soon-to-be-ex spouse get through the divorce smoothly and calmly.
Collaborative law experts include financial, accounting and divorce and parenting experts, and lawyers who have trained in specifically in collaborative law as a legal practice. The point of collaborative divorce is for both of you to come to an agreement without resorting to an adversarial divorce proceeding.
There are a ton of benefits to collaborative divorce, including:
- You and your spouse will be able to explore and discuss your needs, concerns and goals during the divorce. This will help you discover new ways to approach conflicts and conflict resolution.
- Collaborative divorce is private. No one – including your adult children – will be reading about your divorce in court records.
- The lawyers and other collaborative divorce experts will recognize that you and your spouse – even though you’re divorcing – actually know what’s best for yourselves and your children, including what your relationship can tolerate, where your conflicts lie, and where you both agree and cooperate.
- It’s not uncommon for divorcing couples to get into bad communication patterns as a result of the stress of the divorce process itself. If, however, during the collaborative divorce process you find yourself experiencing communication breakdowns, your collaborative divorce team will guide you back to healthy communication that will move the divorce process along.
- You’ll learn a valuable life skill: how to recognize that conflict is normal when tensions and emotions run high. The collaborative divorce team can coach you both on keeping the big picture in mind.
- Both of you will be allowed to feel safe, empowered, secure, and informed in making the right decisions for yourselves and your kids. Your focus, decisions and actions will remain reasonable as you work to resolve issues in everyone’s best interests.
- The voluntary agreements you make in a supportive atmosphere will go a long way toward much better long-term outcomes for you, your ex, and your kids.
If you have questions regarding collaborative divorce and live in Seattle or Bellevue, Washington, call us. Our managing partner, Amanda DuBois, is an experienced family law attorney with special training in helping couples divorce using the collaborative divorce process. (206) 547-1486
