What are the Benefits of Collaborative Divorce?
Collaborative Divorce is a respectful alternative to fighting in court, which brings some healthy rewards for everyone involved. Though you may have good intentions, things can go awry during the traditional ‘I-win-you-lose’ adversarial process of divorce. Collaborative Divorce (CD) is a more civilized approach. The goal is to help clients end marriages as peacefully and positively as possible. Anton Garcia Law discusses collaborative divorce and some potential benefits so you can learn if it’s the right option for your family law needs.
How Collaborative Divorce Works
It begins with the two parties signing a commitment agreement stating that they won’t go to court. Instead, they both sit down with attorneys and discuss each problem — anything from who gets the house to who pays for violin lessons — until they find a solution that everyone can live with.
As effective as CD can be, it’s unlikely to be successful when there’s a deep lack of trust, an inability to keep commitments or a need for revenge. With this type of divorce agreements, you must be willing to put in the effort up front to reap the following potential benefits of collaborative divorce.
Benefit #1: Less Bitterness
With traditional divorce, wounds may never fully heal. If couples have a warfare mentality, they can never really recover it becomes a tragedy for them and their kids.
Remind yourself that you are choosing collaboration for your everyone’s well being. We won’t sugarcoat it — collaborative divorce is still hard, but it’s much easier working together during the split. Your children will respect the fact that you took the time to work things out and be at peace with your decisions.
Benefit #2: Lower Expenses
One of the best benefits of collaborative divorce can be the savings. Couples doing a collaborative divorce usually spend half as much as when lawyers go head-to-head and about a quarter of the cost of going to Florida divorce court.
During CD couples share financial information, avoiding attorney fees to search for hidden assets or property (a process called discovery).
Benefit #3: Quicker Results
The divorce process is hard on everyone, but a protracted one can do even more damage. But it doesn’t have to be that way, collaborative divorces take 18 weeks on average, a quarter of the usual time.
Another advantage with CD is that you can set your own pace, and aren’t subject to the schedules of lawyers and judges.
Benefit #4: A Custom Solution
Collaborative divorce allows for arrangements that courts sometimes cannot. Giving you decision-making control over your family and your divorce, not a judge. Instead of wasting money in litigation arguing about the past, you will be focused on creating solutions that will work for you and your family in the future.
A divorce isn’t just an ending; it’s also a beginning. A couple who has built a new, and separate, foundation for the future is giving each other, and their children, a head start on the recovery process. Collaborative divorce has been established to help minimize the time, expense and hostility that you’ll typically experience during a divorce.
The Anton Garcia team of attorneys in Tampa and Wesley Chapel, FL has the knowledge, experience, and understanding to guide your family law case to its best possible outcome. Call to book your consultation to discuss a collaborative divorce today!
