Collaborative Divorce

If you are considering a divorce in the state of California, a collaborative approach may be right for you and your partner. Collaborative divorce arrangements are best suited for those on amicable terms and with solid trust remaining in their relationships. Rather than opting for a combative confrontation in the courtroom setting, you can sometimes hash out your differences in a less stressful environment. It may be possible to reduce the cost of your divorce proceedings by taking a cooperative approach. Here are some facts every couple should know when considering collaborative arrangements for divorce.   The Cost of Collaboration Can Vary Depending on the type of divorce and number of counselors and advisors needed to resolve issues between you and your former partner, the cost of collaborative arrangements can be as much or more than that of traditional divorce proceedings. Discussing the costs and the duration of these negotiations with your attorney can help you to determine whether collaborative or traditional divorce proceedings are best for your situation. For simple divorces with few issues to iron out, however, collaborations can often cost significantly less than the same proceedings in a traditional courtroom setting.   Child Custody Issues Can Extend the Process If you and your partner must iron out the details of child custody, visitation and other shared responsibilities for your minor children, the process can take significantly longer and may require added funds to complete. Some of the most important child custody issues include the following:    Questions about religious practice and attendance    Educational arrangements    Medical care and treatment    Living arrangements    Holiday visitation    Child support payments Discussing these questions with your former partner and coming to a consensus about the best arrangements for your children can significantly speed the resolution process and can help you make the best use of your available budget.   Assets and Liabilities Must Be Divided Making a thorough inventory of all outstanding debt, financial resources and real property accrued during the marriage can help you determine the most equitable way to divide these obligations and assets. This can speed up the collaborative divorce process to save both of you time and money during this difficult time. Your financial situation can play a significant role in the amount of child support, spousal support and other assets available to you and your partner after your divorce is finalized. By being honest and forthright, you can streamline the process for you and your former spouse.   Emotional Issues Can Hamper Success Collaborative divorce arrangements are not for everyone. If you and your former partner cannot easily discuss sensitive issues without becoming emotional, a traditional divorce may be a more appropriate choice for your needs. Allowing your attorneys to serve as mediators can prevent unpleasant confrontations and can help you to achieve greater peace of mind throughout the divorce process. This can also reduce the overall cost of the divorce in some cases. If you are considering divorce, consulting with an attorney who specializes in California family law cases can provide you with greater insight and improved confidence during this stressful time. A collaborative divorce process can potentially save you money and time while reducing the adversarial aspects of your divorce and allowing you to maintain an amicable relationship with your former spouse. If looking for a lawyer in the Fresno, California, area to help you seek a collaborative divorce, contact the Law Office of Julia Ann Brungess.

The ability to make decisions on a large number of big and small issues throughout the divorce process is an indispensable aspect of a successful collaborative divorce. By choosing to use the collaborative divorce process, you and your spouse mutually agree that you will work out the settlement terms in your divorce outside of court, although a judge will need to approve your proposed settlement terms before they are finalized. Along the way, you both will be asked to make decisions. Some of the decisions are relatively small, such as who the children will be with on certain three-day weekends or how you will rotate holidays. Other decisions can feel much bigger, such as who will keep the shared home or whether it will be sold after the divorce is final, or how retirement savings will be transferred from one spouse to the other. Big decisions can feel intimidating, and oftentimes, differing perspectives emerge. In a collaborative divorce, you will never be left to make these important decisions alone. At the core of the collaborative divorce approach is the belief that divorce is a life event that includes legal, emotional, and financial elements.  As a result, you and your partner will work with trained professionals all the way through the case, educating and advising you  from all of three of these perspectives before you are ever asked to make any large, life-changing decision. Keeping a clear and honest line of communication with your collaborative team can help ensure that the decisions you make will be the ones that best serve you and your family. This teamwork approach is vital to the process, but after all of the information has been disclosed and discussed and all of the various settlement options fully explored, you and your former spouse will ultimately be asked to decide what settlement terms work best. If you can not come to an agreement outside of court, it may be necessary to use a more traditional form of divorce. Having to turn to a more combative approach after agreeing to work together can feel disappointing, but  ultimately doing the best thing for your unique situation is always the most important decision you can make, even if it differs from your original plans. By staying honest with your needs and committing to open communication with your former partner and collaborative divorce team, you can ensure that you are doing the best thing for yourself and your family. Divorce isn’t going to be easy, but by committing to work together through whatever may come, you can ease the stress that is oftentimes associated with such a big life transition.

Collaborative divorce and mediation have one important thing in common; both processes are  designed to help maintain a healthy and peaceful dynamic while you move on with your lives. If you and your spouse have decided to go your separate ways, but are still able to communicate with respect, a traditional divorce may not be necessary. So how do you know whether mediation or collaborative divorce is a better option for you? There are three  important factors that you may want to take into consideration. …     Power imbalance ​In a mediation without attorneys, the spouse with greater power in the relationship may have more control over the result. For instance, a stay-at-home parent who has never been in charge of the finances may have a difficult time asking for what he or she needs due to a lack of knowledge about the finances. Because the mediator is a neutral party, he or she cannot step in and advocate for the spouse with less power. In the collaborative process, each party has representation to make sure that the power imbalance will not affect the outcome. The lawyers, in fact, will work together to smooth out any imbalance in order to reach a fair agreement. … … Advocacy ​ Divorce can be stressful process, and everyone manages the stress differently. Without an objective advocate, it is oftentimes difficult for a spouse to think through the complex personal and financial issues that need to be resolved in a divorce. While a mediator can help you and your former partner find common ground, they can not provide the personal support you may need. The collaborative process provides individual support to help the parties manage their emotions and keep them from getting in the way of the best possible outcome. … … Interest-based negotiation ​Even though mediation is based around the idea of amicably reaching agreement, it can still use positional negotiation; each party takes a stance and the mediator helps them meet in the middle. Collaborative divorce uses personal negotiation. Both parties try to reach an agreement based upon their interests rather than hard positions they are trying to protect. A mediator may be happy with an agreement that both spouses may feel as if they have compromised too much on. In a collaborative divorce, the full team works with the parties to reach an agreement that they both accept. Like your relationship and marriage, divorce is a unique process that differs with each couple. There is no right answer, and some couples may find that a mediator is all they need to find resolution. By taking the time to consider the factors that will influence the process, you can decide how to proceed in your divorce, whether that be mediation, collaborative, or even litigation if necessary.

Just because you are separating or divorcing doesn’t mean your  personal and financial life need to be on public display  The collaborative process can maintain your family’s privacy regarding very personal issues like parenting arrangements and finances. By working together on a divorce agreement, you and your spouse can come to terms on sensitive issues that will later be presented to the court in a much less public fashion, providing for you and any children involved. You are also taking a proactive step in avoiding the type of confrontation that can often result in privacy breaches for both parties. Protecting your privacy can be particularly helpful if children are involved. In the collaborative process, you and your spouse work with your attorneys to create a parenting plan that is uniquely suited to your children’s best interests, addressing both parents’ concerns. With this type of cooperative negotiation, you have the opportunity to work out the kinks together with the help of an experienced professional; only your final agreements are included in the divorce decree. Although your final divorce decree is a public document, you can work with your attorney to draft it  in a way that protects all involved parties, guarding information that may be sensitive or compromising to the health of your family. The collaborative process protects your family’s privacy as the entire process is confidential, including the discussions in your meetings with your spouse, the recommendations and work of any neutral professionals, and of course any discussions you have with your attorney. By agreeing to work together peacefully, you and your spouse can avoid many of the emotional ups and downs that can come with a traditional divorce. During the highs and lows of a more combative process, even the most reasonable and respectful person can become carried away, lashing out or spreading information with the intent to hurt the other party. While divorce is an emotional process no matter what, the collaborative method is designed to mitigate unnecessary confrontation with an innovative team approach that works to preserve the positive aspects of your relationship.

There are many benefits to choosing a collaborative divorce over the traditional “you vs. them” approach. Preserving the family dynamic, protecting any children or other family members involved from unnecessary stress and drama, and honoring your relationship with your former partner as it transitions are all invaluable elements of the collaborative process. Another benefit of a collaborative divorce is the potential to avoid more combative litigation as the divorce proceeds. Divorce is an emotional experience, fraught with mixed emotions that are further complicated by the need to resolve practical issues. By choosing representation that is focused on cooperative resolution, you can mitigate much of the strain, both emotional and financial, that many assume is an unavoidable byproduct of the divorce process. When you and your partner choose a collaborative divorce process, you are committing to achieve a mutually acceptable resolution for both parties on all the important issues. Once designated as collaborative attorneys for the parties, neither attorney can go to court to resolve outstanding issues and must withdraw from the case if either party terminates the collaborative process. The collaborative family law process: Allows each party to move at his or her pace Reduces acrimony Reduces uncertainty Reduces inefficiency Supports and preserves self-respect and respect for the other person Maintains privacy Promotes a healthy revised family structure While there are sure to be bumps in the road in any divorce process, by committing to collaboration and open communication, you and your former spouse can avoid getting into the warlike mentality that can unfortunately arise from such a difficult life decision. By choosing to operate with respect and transparency from the beginning, both parties can ensure that combative litigation is unnecessary, and that a positive future, post-divorce, is possible.  

When you contemplate divorce, maintaining your children’s health and well-being through the process is naturally one of your primary concerns. Traditional divorces can instill a feeling of combativeness, a “me against them” mentality. You can often feel alone in a world filled with legal terms and strangers. This can lead to the stress of feeling like you are unable to protect your children. Collaborative divorce offers you the opportunity to avoid the “war” that divorce can become. You and your partner chose to become married. It was a time of joy and hope for the future. While divorce is indeed an end to those original expectations, it should not need to be the end of your family or the hope and future of a healthy family life for your children. You can choose to work together to plan a future for your children that is still safe and secure. It can be a healthy and family centered environment for them, while providing you with the freedom of choice and security that you are protecting and providing for them with minimal interference from “strangers.” When you choose Collaborative divorce the decisions remain with you. We work with you to effectively communicate your desires for the disposition not only of your possessions, but more importantly of the time and assets you both believe are important to your children. We work as a team to effectively come up with a divorce solution that you both agree is beneficial to each of you and your children in your newly defined family. As a team, our goal is to: Be more efficient with your time and money Limit the number of decisions left exclusively up to the court Keep much of the decision-making power with you Instill and nurture a civil, respectful, cooperative attitude in the divorce process Reduce the stress of divorce so you and your spouse can continue to effectively parent your children. A divorce, regardless of the process you choose, will never be easy. It is a difficult time filled with important decisions and discussions. It does not have to be a fight. By choosing Collaborative Divorce you begin working toward a positive, safe solution for everyone. Call to set up a time to speak with our collaborative attorneys about how you can get started on a family-centered solution.  

What is Collaborative Divorce? Collaborative divorce is a resolution-focused alternative to more traditional divorce methods. In a collaborative divorce situation, divorcing couples seek to mediate a fair and equitable division of marital assets with as little involvement of the court as possible. It seeks to emphasize the collaborative nature of the marriage partnership in order to set aside differences and work toward an agreement that honors both partners wishes. It emphasizes privacy and the maintenance of a healthy family dynamic. It gives more control to you as a couple to create an agreement suitable for your unique situation.   Benefits of Collaborative Divorce for Children Divorce is difficult for the two people who are choosing to go separate ways, but for any children who may have been the product of the marriage, it can be even more stressful. As they struggle to understand complex adult dynamics that are affecting their lives so dramatically, it is important to keep their needs in the forefront. Children may become despondent or stressed at the thought of having to take sides or choose between parents as a divorce progresses. If a divorce is something that is imminent between you and your spouse, you might want to consider a collaborative divorce that may spare your children unnecessary heartache and confusion . It can be a welcome alternative for everyone in the family, as you work together to maintain a healthy dynamic even as you deal with difficult circumstances.