Understanding the sensitive and personal nature of family law issues is important for dealing with them. The legal system appoints a judge as the main decision-maker to decide what is best for the whole family when it comes to a divorce, child custody, or visitation rights. However, if you want to make these decisions on your own, there is an option – collaborative law.
Under collaborative law, the two parties that are part of a dispute retain separate lawyers whose main task is to settle it. They set a schedule of meetings to go through their particular family law issues and negotiate agreements in a respectful and cooperative atmosphere.
Collaborative law, in a sense, shares similar principles with mediation as both parties participate in good faith, trying to reach the goal of a mutually acceptable agreement. The main difference is that each party has their lawyer working to protect their client’s interests while with mediation, the parties work together with a neutral third party.
To better understand this non-confrontational approach to resolving many family issues, continue reading below.
Collaborative Divorce Process
The use of this approach for solutions to property division, divorce, and other family matters has become a growing trend all across the country.
For instance, law offices all across California have made it their mission to help people through difficult and stressful times. If you happen to live in a city like Riverside and are going through a difficult divorce, you can find legal professionals that will work by your side to protect you in your hardest moments. Just make sure to do your research, ask around, and find an experienced family law lawyer in Riverside to provide you with personalized attention, the right options, and information to decide the best path forward for your life.
Those who decide to use the collaborative process to finalize their divorce have great chances of completing successful negotiations and end up with a comprehensive written agreement that validates the divorce and states all arrangements related to issues like custody, visitation rights, child support, as well as the division of property.
The Benefits
The biggest benefit of the collaborative law process is that it provides a cooperative approach to problem-solving but there are also other great benefits offered to people who’re found in a family law situation.
Even though individual circumstances vary, collaborative law tends to provide a faster and more cost-effective method of resolving an issue. Going to court to get divorced means that the parties will spend more money. However, one should remember that the collaborative process can end up being costlier if the parties fail to complete the process and then decide to still pursue litigation.
In addition to saving money and precious time, collaborative law participants and their close ones can avoid a great amount of stress on themselves and their other family members. Details related to the divorce can remain more private through the collaborative approach, which is another great benefit.
Parties Fail to Reach An Agreement
The collaborative process refers to finding agreeable solutions from both parties without going to court. If they don’t reach an agreement, a mediator might be needed to try and help the collaborative process. The mediator will facilitate help in the settlement.
If this doesn’t work, the lawyers need to withdraw and the persons in the case should find new legal assistance. The traditional court process would then need to be used in order to resolve the differences. There are many instances where parties agree on one issue but not on another. If this were to occur, they can bring the issue they agreed on to the court and ask them to settle the other ones.
Who Should Choose This Approach?
Everyone can use the collaborative approach but the ones best suited for it are couples willing to work together and remain respectful.
If the spouses demonstrate anger, deep distrust, and animosity and cannot speak to each another in a civilized manner, then collaborative law may not be the best option. Also, this approach is not suitable in divorce or other family law cases that involve allegations of domestic violence, severe mental disorders, and substance abuse.
Final Thoughts
A collaborative law approach allows couples to work together with legal professionals in a safe space while trying to settle out of court. The goal is to ease the emotional strains of divorce and not perpetuate disagreement.
