Collaborative Family Process in BC
TriCity Family Services, United States, is holding a divorce workshop for children in the age group of 7 to 11 years. Obviously, it is the responsibility of both parents to reduce the emotional strains and ensure the well being of children during their divorce. Collaborative Family Law process is an option that can help couples to separate their ways without having litigation and thereby minimize the emotional anguish and turmoil. Collaborative divorce process is considered to be cheaper, quicker, and simpler than the traditional divorce in BC.
The main intention of collaborative family process is to assist divorcing spouses to resolve their issues through negotiations and sign a separation agreement without going to court. In this process, a group of professionals help them to negotiate with each other and find solutions to their differences. These professional include a divorce lawyer, divorce coach, child counselor, and financial expert. In short, collaborative divorce group consists of experts from all areas of divorce.
In a collaborative divorce, both spouses need separate lawyers to help them in the divorce process. The main job of a collaborative lawyer is to identify the important issues and develop options to solve the problems. It is also their duty to give guidance and legal advices to their clients during negotiations. Divorce coaches are usually certified mental health professionals and they help the spouses to deal with the emotional strains of divorce. Child counselor will protect the best interests of children during their parents’ divorce. The services of a financial expert can be useful in dealing with the financial aspects of divorce.
During the initial stages of collaborative process, both spouses are required to disclose their financial information along with documents and tax returns. Then, the spouses and their respective lawyers have to attend collaborative meetings, generally known as four-way meetings. In these meetings, issues and ways to resolve them and reach an amicable agreement will be discussed. If necessary, other collaborative professionals will also participate in these meetings.
To make collaborative divorce process successful, it is very important that the spouses have to adhere to certain principles. They should show mutual respect and willingness to hear what the other party has to say without any interruptions. They should also abstain from blaming or criticizing each other during the negotiations.
If all issues can be settled in the meetings, then the spouses can sign a collaborative commitment agreement or participation agreement to clarify that they will make all attempts to avoid divorce litigation. In case of failure of negotiations, the collaborative lawyers should withdraw from the divorce procedure and the spouses have to appoint lawyers who are specialized in traditional divorce in BC to help them to go ahead with their divorce proceedings.