Why Collaborative Family Law?
When I started working in family law, I wanted to help people get through a difficult time in their lives. But I saw what litigation does to people, and most of the time, it is not helpful long-term to them emotionally, financially and certainly not helpful to their family. It’s much better for people to work together.
The effects of litigation are like a bandaid – it doesn’t actually fix the family problem. It reminds me of taking medicine to make you feel better temporarily, but it doesn’t fix the illness. In a divorce situation, it’s better for all involved to fix the root issues of the family problem.
I never planned or gave much thought to collaborative divorce in the beginning, but after witnessing all the pain and financial loss occurring from a litigated divorce, especially the effect on the kids from a litigated divorce and seeing the parents in conflict, I started to see the potential benefits of a collaborative divorce.
When I was a brand new attorney, there was a litigated divorce client that always stuck with me.
Their child had cystic fibrosis, and the parents battled over everything and genuinely hated each other. I just remembered that that they were pouring all their money into litigation and during the process, the child died. These people spent the child’s last few years fighting in court instead of doing fun things with her. It was heartbreaking.
So now I’ve been doing collaborative divorce 17 years. I’m happiest when I’m working with children; it’s what I enjoy the most and helping kids is what makes me the happiest.
If someone was questioning me about collaborative divorce, I would tell them to do their research, talk to people who have done collaborative divorce and who haven’t. I believe they’ll find that people who went through a collaborative divorce have a better relationship with their ex and are much less emotionally scarred than people who litigated.
Children have written books on what it was like to be a child of divorce. What hurts children the most is the conflict between their parents. The less conflict the parents can show, the better the children are going to come out of the process.
If you’ve decided that a divorce is necessary, please consider using the collaborative divorce process for your own emotional (and financial) well-being, as well as the health of your family.
Emily
Family Divorce Solutions comprises well-respected, experienced and trained attorneys, mental health professionals, financial professionals, and child specialists who work as a team to reach a complete and satisfactory resolution for everyone involved.
Contact us today to see how we can help your family create and finalize an amicable agreement for your divorce challenges.
Note: This information is general in nature and should not be construed as legal/financial/tax/or mental health advice. You should work with your attorney, financial, mental health or tax professional to determine what will work best for your situation.