So, when looking to obtain all of the legal paperwork necessary to bifurcate one household estate into two, the partners should speak frankly with each other before they go to the legal marketplace.

Do they care about each other, even though they are splitting up?
Do they share children whom they love and devote financial resources toward?
Do they have a mix of assets that have various tax and deferment obligations?
Have they planned for the future as a couple and need to re-visit those plans?

These and thousands more are the factors which mitigate in favor of Collaboration. In addition to providing mechanisms for valuing all of the above-listed interests, Collaboration honors the most basic human right–privacy. Couples need not tender their children to the court in order to obtain a divorce settlement. The couple has chosen a team to assist them, and the team is bound by strict confidentiality.

While it is important to note that Collaboration is not for everyone–namely, it is not for couples who don’t see eye to eye about long-term concern for the other’s well-being. Those folks will still need Court, and Collaboration can clear much of the docket that delays prompt justice for those previously denied.

In today’s culture, there are more and more opportunities to take legal matters “offline,” and choose the private dispute methods and perspectives to be applied by their lawyers and other allied professionals (mental health and financial professionals are essential to the Collaborative Team). I urge everyone to investigate Collaborative Practice http://www.collaborativepractice.com/
and share the information with the people you love.

Kimberly Schavey, J.D., M.B.A., Clergyperson
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Collaborative Divorce Lawyer since 2001B