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 Collaborative
Divorce
Most people who have gone through a divorce will tell you that the
experience was emotionally wrenching, painful and prohibitively
costly. Those people are also likely to tell you that the divorce
lawyers contributed to these problems by heightening conflict and
escalating arguments over the placement of the children, payment of
support and division of the property, all the while charging
increasing fees. Divorce law is applied to a family in crisis.
Unfortunately, the legal process seeks to resolve that crisis in an
adversarial system that often intensifies the conflict. Divorce
lawyers, who perceive their role as winning for their client,
usually defined as gaining the most time with the children and the
most money, advocate only the positions of their own clients. The
lawyers often engage in contentious, last minute negotiations. When
such negotiations fail, the parties may put their disputes before a
judge, a stranger to themselves and their children, for decisions.
Any veteran family lawyer or mental health professional can tell you
that trials in divorce solve little and often perpetuate problems.
What can be done to ease the burden of such a divorce? A new process
is available for divorcing couples in Florida. The process is called
"collaborative family practice." In a collaborative case the couple
agrees that they will work together to reach a settlement of the
placement and custody of the children and financial issues in their
divorce in a way that meets the needs of all family members,
including the children. The parties and the lawyers each agree, in
writing that they will not go to court to settle their issues. In
the event the parties do not succeed in settling their differences
without going to court, the lawyers, by agreement, must both
withdraw. This creates an incentive for everyone to reach
agreements. The parties and the lawyers each agree to work together
as a team to reach a fair settlement. The collaborative lawyers act
as legal advisors and problem solvers rather than as adversarial
gladiators. Experiences in many places where collaborative family
practice has been used, such as Minnesota, California, Texas,
Florida and Canada show that divorces resolved in this way are less
financially and emotionally painful, and prevent returns to court
when new issues arise between the parties.
Generally, in a collaborative case, the parties meet with their
lawyers in a series of four -way settlement conferences. Each party
has the advice of a divorce lawyer who is specially trained in the
practice of collaborative law as well as experienced in the practice
of family law. The parties may agree to use the services of other
professionals, including financial advisors and mental health
professionals specializing in child related or divorce issues. Since
the professionals are neutral and are jointly chosen to provide
input rather than take sides only one is need from any discipline.
Although most of the collaborative cases deal with divorce, other
family matters such as paternity and modifications of final
judgments can utilize the collaborative process.
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Rosemarie
founded the
Collaborative Family Lawyers Institute
in Miami in 1999 and serves as the Institute’s first president.
Rosemarie has lectured on Collaborative Law for the Florida Bar, the
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and for various other
professional associations.
►Contact
Information
Rosemarie S. Roth, Esq.
8525 S.W. 92nd Street Suite B-5 Miami, FL 33156
Phone (305) 596-7303 | Fax (305) 596-1198
e-mail:
rlsroth@aol.com
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