Collaborative Team | Multi-State Alternative Dispute Resolution

What is a Collaborative Team in Collaborative Practice?

Most parties would like to settle their divorce or family law case privately outside of court. The dilemma is that many do not agree on all the issues relative to their divorce.

When parties consider how to get to a settlement, some parties may consider a collaborative divorce. But one question some may struggle with is why they need a collaborative team. In other words, in collaborative practice, a collaborative team generally consists of collaborative lawyers for both parties, a divorce coach, a financial neutral, and a child custody professional.

A collaborative team might seem like it could complicate the situation. Some may worry about the cost of having a collaborative team helping them. They might ask whether it’s expensive to have all of these individuals helping.

However, the collaborative team can be vital to achieving settlement in many cases. Put simply, without a divorce coach, parties may say or do things in the collaborative process that could be acrimonious and make settlement more difficult.

In other situations, the parties both might want to settle, but they have many concerns about potential settlement options. They might wonder about taxes, the valuation of assets, and other complex financial issues. This is where a financial neutral can help the parties work through various financial options, answer their questions, spreadsheet assets and help them reach a settlement outside of court.

Where there are children, the issues may also be tricky. The children could have special needs from an educational or medical standpoint. The parents also might have totally different views in terms of what is best for their children. This is where the child custody professional can help present various possibilities, answer their questions, and help them reach an out-of-court settlement.

Ultimately, most parties desire to settle their divorce or family law case. Most parties do not want a nasty and prolonged divorce. But the devil is almost always in the details. The details are what can make settlement difficult. And the collaborative team can help parties navigate through these details.

This is where the collaborative team can help bring parties to reach a settlement where it would not be possible otherwise. While having a team of professionals might seem arduous at first, in many instances, it is preferable to contested divorce and family law proceedings.