In a divorce, the images are often of combative spouses fighting over every trivial detail of their former and future life. They use their attorneys as weapons to attack their “opponent” and return to court dozens of times. Sadly, this does happen. No one really benefits from these scorched earth divorces. But it does not have to be like this. One alternative is a collaborative divorce, where the parties work together to reach a reasonable divorce settlement.

In a collaborative divorce, you work with your spouse to develop a workable custody, visitation, and support arrangements that will benefit both parties. Even the attorneys are invested in a positive outcome. Under collaborative law agreements, if negotiations between the two parties break down and they have to resort to a traditional, litigated divorce, the attorneys must withdraw representation and the couple must hire new lawyers.

This means everyone is on the same page, working to reach positive solutions, without all the stress and high-drama of some incendiary divorces. This can save you money, as you may spend less time in court and less money on legal fees.

You can obtain results more quickly, because you are not tied to a overcrowded court docket, and can work together to solve issues. Custody and visitations schedules can be realistically put together, because you know better than any judge what your time constraints are and what is likely to be the most successfully type of plan will work with your children and former spouse.

This has the added benefit of being less stressful for everyone, especially the children. It also enables you to begin your post-divorce relationship on the right footing, meaning those agreements are more likely to be followed and successful.