Collaborative Practice is a way for people to solve disagreements, like during a divorce, without going to court. Both people and their lawyers agree to share all important information honestly and work together to find a solution. This approach is sometimes called "No Court Divorce," "Divorce with Dignity," or "Peaceful Divorce."
To use Collaborative Practice, each person needs a lawyer who is trained in this special method.
If the divorce is complicated—maybe because of money or child custody—a team might help out. This team often includes:
- A Collaborative Financial Professional, who is fair to both sides and helps figure out what everything is worth and how to divide it.
- A Parenting Coordinator, who is also fair and helps the parents make a schedule that is best for the kids.
- Collaborative Attorney for each person to give their client legal advise.
Everyone on the team meets together as many times as needed to create the final agreement.
It might seem expensive to have several professionals, but in complicated divorces, each person usually hires their own experts anyway, which can cost even more. You might need someone to value property, someone to look at child custody, and lawyers to prepare for court, which takes a lot of time and money.
With Collaborative Practice, both sides share the experts and information, so it usually costs less for couples with a lot of assets. The final agreement also tends to last longer, because both people help make the decisions and trust the outcome.
