Why Consider Collaborative Divorce? 4 Surprising Benefits You May Not Know!
Collaborative divorce offers a peaceful and empowering alternative to traditional litigation, allowing couples to resolve their divorce while minimizing stress, maintaining control, and protecting family relationships.
Key Takeaways:
Collaborative divorce allows couples to retain control over decisions and create customized solutions that suit their unique family needs.
The process minimizes emotional strain by fostering cooperation and preventing hostility, which is especially beneficial when children are involved.
It offers greater privacy than court proceedings, as everything remains confidential and cannot be used against you in future legal actions.
When it comes to popular methods of alternative dispute resolution, mediation is often chosen by Texas couples to resolve their divorce. However, there is another option that has rapidly gained popularity in recent years, which is called collaborative divorce. While mediation is required by many Texas judges before they will allow a divorce to proceed to trial, collaborative divorce is an optional path that both spouses can agree to in order to work together to reach an agreement on all the issues (such as custody, asset division, etc.) and avoid the complications of litigation.If you’re considering, or in the midst of, divorce, and looking for a way to stay out of court, collaborative divorce may be an ideal option for you. In this blog, we’ll help you understand what the process entails, as well as the considerable benefits of using it to resolve your divorce!
What is Collaborative Divorce?
A collaborative divorce is a process that a couple agrees to participate in after initiating their divorce. It is ideal for those who are relatively on the same page when it comes to working together to resolve issues amicably and avoid court. In other words, collaborative divorce is not appropriate in cases where one spouse is intent on picking fights, stirring up conflict, or hindering the divorce process as a whole. Collaborative divorce begins after both spouses sign a collaborative divorce agreement, which is a formal written document stating that they agree to act in good faith throughout the entire process, and understand that if they are not able to reach a resolution and the collaborative process fails, both of their attorneys must withdraw and they must go back to Square One of their divorce.Next, the spouses will attend a series of group meetings with their attorneys, as well as neutral experts in other fields (such as financial advisors, mental health coaches, child specialists, etc.). In those meetings, everyone will be working together to help the couple reach an agreement in various areas of their divorce. Some couples will require more collaborative meetings than others, and not all of the meetings will look the same.What many people don’t know is that mediation, which is another form of alternative dispute resolution, still occurs in collaborative divorces. What tends to happen is that a couple will get very close to reaching an agreement without actually reaching an agreement, and then they will use mediation to work out some of the finer details that they weren’t able to agree on before.Once the couple has reached a full agreement, it can be submitted to the court for approval, and the divorce can be finalized.
Benefit #1: Less Stress and Emotional Strain
One of the primary characteristics of a couple with whom collaborative divorce may be a good fit is that they are both on the same page about keeping conflict and tension minimized. Rather than acting as adversaries (as you would in court), you and your spouse can work together to find solutions that align with your individual and common goals.Because of this emphasis on creating a communicative foundation on which to end your marriage, rather than a tense or hostile one, you can both save yourselves an immense amount of stress and emotional strain. This can be especially important if children are involved, as they are often the silent victims in contentious divorce cases.
Benefit #2: Greater Control and Customization of Agreements
When you elect to ask the court to intervene in your divorce, you essentially agree to allow the state of Texas to dictate the outcome - and in turn, your future. This is not ideal for many couples, as they want to remain in control of their children’s lives, their money, their business, and everything else they worked tirelessly to earn throughout their marriage. If you feel the same, then going to court is not the path you want to choose.In litigation, a judge will be the one to make all of the most critical decisions in your divorce, including custody arrangements, asset division, and more - not you! Even if you and your spouse disagree in some areas, it may be better to work on finding areas of compromise rather than completely giving up control to a government official who is only vaguely familiar with your family from reading the documents in your case file.Collaborative divorce allows you to shape your own future, and work with your spouse to design creative solutions that align with your family’s unique dynamic and needs. Rather than leaving everything that is most important to you up to chance (a judge), you can be empowered to make your own tailored decisions.
Benefit #3: Privacy
Another advantage of collaborative divorce is that, because it takes place outside of court, everything remains completely confidential (rather than becoming public record). This is important to many couples, especially those that have sensitive information related to their finances, their business, or family that they want to keep private.Moreover, whatever information is shared as part of the collaborative divorce process cannot be used against you in court later if you are unable to reach a full agreement and end up going to trial. This allows you and your spouse to communicate openly and honestly without fear that your statements or concessions will come back to bite you!
Benefit #4: Protecting Family Relationships for the Long-Term
You can think of the final surprising benefit of a collaborative divorce as the “final boss” - as it is the result of all the other benefits combined. When you and your spouse are able to prioritize cooperation and unity, while maintaining control and privacy, your divorce doesn’t have to become a toxic, oppressive experience.Let’s face it, divorce is tough enough as it is; at the end of the day, you’re still ending a relationship that’s played a significant role in your life. There are a lot of intense emotions involved, and letting those emotions control your decision-making is what gets most couples involved in expensive, drawn-out legal battles.With a collaborative divorce, even if you and your spouse are at odds with each other (and most divorcing couples are), the process allows you to resolve your disputes in a way that prevents further escalation and minimizes additional conflict. If you and your spouse share children, you still have a long co-parenting journey ahead of you, and lingering hostility from divorce isn’t good for anyone - least of all, your kids.You may not get along with your soon-to-be former spouse, or even like them. Even so, it’s possible to make a commitment to taking the high road in order to preserve your relationship as you move into the next chapter.
Think Collaborative Divorce May be Right for Your Situation? Contact Hembree Bell Law Firm Today to Learn More!
Collaborative divorce offers numerous benefits that can help couples navigate the difficult divorce process while minimizing stress, retaining control, and protecting family relationships. If you are seeking a more peaceful, efficient, and private alternative to traditional litigation, collaborative divorce may be the ideal path forward for you! Our team frequently helps guide clients through this process, and we can help you, too! Learn more about the advantages of collaborative divorce by booking your free case evaluation today.