A loving and happy marriage is the dream of most American adults, but sometimes things don’t work out. In such a situation, you may need to file for divorce to protect yourself and the family. Whatever the case, it is important to appreciate the complexity of divorce laws. Many spouses lose a lot because they don’t know how to go about the process.
There are many options to ensure a divorce does not take an undue toll on the family. Here are some of the key ideas to keep in mind:
Collaborative Versus Litigation Divorce
You have an option to either go to court or sit with your spouse to come up with an agreeable process that you can follow. Litigation is not always the best solution and often your lawyer will ask you to exhaust all the other options before opting for litigation. When you go for litigation, be ready to wash your dirty linen in public, which may ultimately damage your family.
Worse still, in a litigious divorce you may end up spending lots of money and the process could go on for months or years. This is where collaborative divorce can be a better solution. In a collaborative divorce, the lawyers for both parties come together and try to chart out an agreeable outcome for both parties and the family as a whole.
Collaborative divorce attorneys have expertise in law, financial planning and all other aspects involved in the case. Their goal is to ensure everyone is happy at the end of the day. In a collaborative divorce, you are in control of the process and you don’t leave the courts to decide what is best for your family. Here are some other features that may make a collaborative divorce a better option for you:
- Total control: The couple is in control of the divorce including setting terms and meetings. The idea is to ensure there is no acrimony that might spill over to the family thus ensuring a strong bond even after the divorce is done.
- Family first: Your family will come first and the discussions are not guided by how much money anyone wants but by the best thing for the family. You will agree on all terms, which reduces the risk of adversity and it is possible to guarantee all parents end up sharing a big part in bringing up the family.
- Cost: It is cheaper to go through a collaborative divorce as opposed to fighting it out in court. The faster a divorce is completed the cheaper the cost.
