Collaborative Divorce Or Mediation? What’s Best For Me?
Collaborative divorce provides a great option for families that want a private and family-centered process to meet their goals and needs. Mediation allows divorcing couples to resolve their issues in a way that works for their family through communication with the assistance of an experienced third party. If you’re going through a divorce, and not sure of which method is best for your situation, Levy Craig’s Family Law Practice is here to help you understand these two processes.
Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative divorce attorneys give more privacy and flexibility than you’ll find in the usual divorce process. This model involves working with a team of professionals to help you and your spouse meet your legal needs during your divorce. This process will have you and your partner working with your own individual collaborative divorce attorneys and a financial planner who is a neutral team member. You can also have a health professional who helps parties with minor children create their parenting plan, facilitate meetings, and helps with communication barriers. The financial planner gathers the necessary financial information and provides a detailed financial analysis to both parties and their attorneys to help them in negotiations and decision-making.
Mediation
The mediation process involves a trained family mediator who will work with you and your spouse to help you reach agreements on all of your unresolved issues by facilitating a discussion regarding available options to find the one that is most in line with both parties interests. Working with your spouse in this process can take different forms. Some people choose to speak directly with each other and exchange necessary documents. Others use what is called a caucus method, which involves the mediator meeting both parties individually.
Both collaborative divorce and mediation are focused on creating a divorce process with less contention. While the goals are similar, the methods are different. Collaborative divorce involves each partner having their own representation while mediation is run by a third party who is not advocating for either party.
If you live in the Kansas City Metro area and need a divorce attorney for the collaborative model, Family Law Practice at Levy Craig Law Firm is here to help. To schedule a consultation, call us at (816) 454-7474 or contact us online with any questions you have about the process.
