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Collaborative Law
There are many issues that need to be sorted out when a marriage ends: some are financial, some are emotional, while others are practical. All are important and the way they are handled will help determine how smoothly the couple can move on to living separate lives.
Coming to a workable solution is not always easy, especially as the emotional fall-out from the ending of a marriage can often interfere with efforts to resolve the practical financial issues. There are traditionally three primary routes to finding a solution: mediation, negotiation between solicitors, and court proceedings.
When couples are able to communicate directly and respectfully with each other then mediation offers the most effective way of proceeding. However, this is not right for all couples, especially where matters are emotionally or financially complex.
Solicitor-to-solicitor communication also has its merits as a way of settling matters, although this route again requires a level of objectivity that is not always easy to achieve. Court proceedings are a method of last resort; they are necessary in certain cases but are often very divisive, tending to entrench the couple’s negative views of each other for evermore. This is far from ideal, especially if children are involved and some sort of ongoing relationship between the couple needs to be maintained.
Now, however, there is a fourth route. Collaborative law has been developed to help couples resolve all the matters connected with their marriage in a consensual manner and provides an opportunity for them to move forward from the divorce with their lives intact. Where children are involved, it puts them at the centre of the whole process, ensuring that their needs are met and that their parents can look after them both now and in the future.
So how does it work? Once one party’s solicitor has identified that the case may benefit from collaboration, they approach the other party’s solicitor to ascertain whether he/she is a collaboratively-trained lawyer and, if so, whether their client wishes to engage in the process. If the answer is yes, then both parties enter into a Collaboration Agreement. In this Agreement, the couple agree not to go to court and to partake in the process in an open and honest manner, to work respectfully with the solicitors and each other, and to come to a solution that is in the interests of the whole family.
An important aspect to appreciate is that the process is not adversarial. The solicitors are not taking positions, but are co-operating with each other and the couple to arrive at the best possible solution for the family. In the unlikely event that the process fails, then the solicitors would no longer be able to act for the couple.
The process takes the form of a number of meetings. These will include meetings between solicitor and client, meetings between the couple’s solicitors to ascertain the main issues, and several face-to-face meetings between the couple and their solicitors. Following this process, a solution is agreed upon, the terms of which are put in a document that everyone signs.
Whilst the collaborative approach is not right for all couples and is in no way an easy option, it is a way of dealing with all the issues in a manner that puts the couple in control of the whole process. The aim is to come up with the best solution for the couple and their family, leaving them able to move on with their lives and part respectfully.
Please contact Roger Stone at Chichester or Sarah Evans at Selsey for more information.