Collaborative divorce or collaborative practice is one option to resolving your divorce. It is similar to mediation because it is considered an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) option. ADR options are non-adversarial options available to resolve disputes outside of court. This also applies to family law or divorce. If you are searching for a collaborative divorce in San Jose Ca, we can help. First, you should understand the benefits and cons of collaborative divorce san jose when selecting the best divorce process for you. We believe mediation it a superior approach to divorce over collaborative in most circumstances.
In collaborative divorce, each spouse retains a collaborative divorce attorney, and a joint mental health professional and forensic accountant. The couple then works with this team of professionals to resolve their divorce, all who have agreed not to use the court process. This is one of the chief benefits of collaborative divorce, as well as having a concentrated group of professionals for support. However, there are potentially more shortcomings to collaborative divorce when compared to divorce mediation. Collaborative divorce runs the risk of stalemate, because there is no external force to overcome obstacles and the team may not be united on every point. If the couple cannot resolve their dispute or at any time someone breaks rank and uses the court system, both husband and wife must fire all their collaborative law professionals and start over with new divorce attorneys. This can be a very costly process. The couple has to hire four collaborative professionals, and can risk losing it all! It is not surprising that a collaborative divorce, while can be less expensive than an adversarial divorce, is more expensive than a mediated divorce.
Choosing Between Mediation and Collaborative Divorce
Why would a couple consider collaborative divorce when you could mediate? The couple wouldn’t. Divorce mediation has far more benefits, far less expensive, and more likely to result in success than collaborative divorce. Collaborative divorce is generally an alternative to an adversarial divorce, not an alternative to mediation. The two processes are not competing.
Instead, in divorce mediation, the couple works with a divorce mediator, who guides them through the divorce issues in a safe space, without representing either party. Mediation gives the couple plenty of time to discuss the issues and create workable solutions. The mediator is not limited by the court’s time frame or procedures. For example, in divorce mediation, the couple could make agreements about adult children (over the age of 18), where a court could not. Both husband and wife must agree to mediation, but it is a misnomer that only “amicable” couples can mediate. The mediator will adjust power imbalances to assist the couple. Similar to collaborative divorce, the couple never goes to court. If your looking for marriage counseling san jose you can visit our partners at this site. The mediator will formalize their agreement in a court order. Typically, divorce mediation is the most cost-effective approach, and results in the most workable custodial arrangements. For instance, one extensive study showed 30% of nonresidential parents who mediated their divorce saw their children weekly 12 years later, compared to 9% of those parents who pursued litigation. Mediation is quicker than litigation and collaborative divorce because the couple receives concentrated time and only needs to work with the mediator’s schedule. Couples will pay for the divorce mediator’s time not four other professionals as in collaborative law divorce practice.
Looking for a Collaborative Divorce Attorney in San Jose Ca
A couple can pursue any one of these routes and, practically at any time, can switch routes to use another (although the costs and benefits might discourage it). For instance, a couple litigating their divorce might become worn out from the divorce fight and decide to go before a mediator for a settlement conference to resolve their entire matter. Another couple that might be pursuing a collaborative divorce, might find that the team approach in collaborative needs the help of a mediator to finish the divorce matter and so hire a mediator. If you are have questions about which process works for you, whether a San Jose collaborative divorce or mediation, give Families First Mediation call, so we can help answer your collaborative law and divorce process questions. We are locally based in San Jose Ca.