What Does Collaborative Divorce Mean?

Collaborative divorce is a peaceable divorce solution to an otherwise traditionally court-litigated divorce. The collaborative divorce process benefits couples seeking to end their marriages with a positive, teamwork approach. In collaborative divorce, each spouse has an attorney who helps the parties reach an agreement rather than engage in an adversarial process. Sometimes, a mental health professional or financial planner may be utilized to reduce costs and address all the parties’ needs.

If you and your spouse are willing to work together, even if you and your spouse have different perspectives on matters, the collaborative team can help you come to a resolution. Collaborative divorce has been used to help couples solve very challenging situations. For this process to work, couples must enter into a legal agreement with their collaborative attorneys to resolve all the divorce issues without heading into traditional litigation. Child custody, child support, spousal support, and property division questions will all be discussed, and unique solutions can be created to solve these issues.

Understanding between sides and communicating each other’s needs is most important in this process. Best of all, through collaborative divorce, you can keep the decision-making power in your own hands instead of giving that power to a judge who doesn’t even know you. When going through a divorce, it often feels like your life is spiraling out of control, but the collaborative method gives you control over the divorce process and the outcome. After all, you and your spouse know each other better than anyone else and making the top decisions for each other and your children is extremely important. Because collaborative divorce streamlines the divorce process, the overall time and cost investment is substantially less. Going through the collaborative approach means that your divorce could be finalized in a few months instead of a lengthy court battle that can take upwards of two years. Legal fees are considerably less in conjunction with the time it takes to complete your divorce resolution filing.

I have practiced law for over 40 years and have seen the good that comes from collaborative divorce. If you are in the Kansas City area and believe the collaborative process would benefit you and your family, contact me, Hugh O’Donnell, today to schedule a consultation, or feel free to call me at (816) 533-5152 with any questions regarding your divorce.