Collaborative Divorce is a relatively
new form of alternative dispute resolution that offers an emotionally healthy
road to divorce. First developed in the early 1990s by a group
of attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial specialists, Collaborative Divorce has since been embraced
by practitioners throughout the United States and Canada. We have
offered Collaborative Divorce at Brave, Weber & Mack for family law clients throughout
San Diego County since May 2005.
Benefits of Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative Divorce holds great promise for
those who wish to divorce in a more constructive manner. It was designed to promote
greater respect between the parties and, when children are involved, it elevates their
needs, making their present and future well-being a key priority throughout the entire
divorce process.
In a Collaborative Divorce, both parties retain
specially trained attorneys. Other professionals, including coaches, financial
specialists, therapists, and child specialists, are called upon to join the team and offer
their unique expertise. The experts also agree to adhere to the collaborative process. An
important distinction of Collaborative Divorce is the agreement that the attorneys and
other experts make to resign from the case if it veers towards litigation. This ensures
that all who are involved are committed to the non-adversTimes New Roman resolution of
your divorce case.
Collaborative Divorce offers
the following benefits:
Economies of scale. Both parties share the
cost and expertise of the experts they choose to retain.
Solution-based. The Collaborative team is
focused on solutions rather than a winner or a loser.
Safe. No decisions are made without an
attorney present, and each party is represented by his or her own attorney.
Control. Clients "own" their
agreement, and are therefore much more likely to follow it. They feel empowered and much
more in control of the process, as opposed to having a judge decide the outcome for them.
Children are protected. The children are
kept out of the middle of the divorce process, and the parties are given every opportunity
to develop a positive parenting plan.
Cost effective. Collaborative Family Law is
typically much more cost effective than litigation.
Our
Collaborative Practice– what you should expect
We will meet with you to discuss your
options and help you decide if you are a good candidate for Collaborative Divorce. Then,
you and your spouse will select your team members. A Collaborative team is ideally
comprised of a divorcing couple, two collaborative lawyers (one for each partner), two
divorce coaches (one for each partner), a neutral child specialist, and one neutral
financial specialist.
These Collaborative professionals will help you
achieve an outcome that would not be possible without the cooperative team involvement. It
is also important to know that as your advocate, we will always have your best interests
in mind. Collaborative Family Law safely lowers the conflict of divorce, so you can reach
a settlement with your dignity and the emotional well-being of your children intact.
Our
Collaborative Family Law practitioner
Shawn Weber has
intensive training in alternate dispute resolution and specific
training in Collaborative Family Law. He is also a family law
attorney and mediator. A board member of the Collaborative Family
Law Group of San Diego, Shawn strongly believes in the potential
this alternative form of dispute resolution offers families.
Click here
to find out more about how Collaborative Divorce works.
Click here to read "The Collaborative
Divorce Team" article written by Collaborative experts Pauline H. Tessler and
Peggy Thompson, authors of Collaborative Divorce.
"Collaborative
Divorce - A Safe Place" is a twenty minute film produced by the International Academy of Collaborative
Professionals following the true life story of one couple as
they proceed through their own Collaborative divorce. This is
the first such film which features actual clients, sharing their
thoughts, feelings and experiences in their own words. Cameras
rolled through meetings with Collaborative professionals and
poignant conversations among the clients. We think you will find it
to be a powerful educational piece and hope that this resource will
be useful to you as you educate members of the public, community
leaders and others about Collaborative Practice.
Providing Collaborative Divorce Services Throughout
San Diego County:
Brave, Weber & Mack, APLC
Family Law, Mediation and Collaborative Divorce
Solana Beach, California
Phone:(858) 345-1616
Fax:(858) 345-1688
Email:
California
family law attorneys and mediators, Brave, Weber and Mack, APLC: Family
Law, Mediation and Collaborative Divorce provide legal advice and
representation to clients on family law issues, including filing for
divorce, child custody (child sharing) child support enforcement,
prenuptial agreements, visitation, motions to
establish paternity, domestic partnership agreements, spousal and child
support modifications to agreements and court orders. Based in Solana
Beach, Brave, Weber
&
Mack helps families throughout San Diego County, including the South Bay,
North County, and East County, and communities such as San Diego, La
Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad,
Vista.
