What are my choices in divorce?
Do I need a lawyer?
Every person coping with divorce must resolve personal, legal and financial issues and make decisions that will affect you the rest of your life.
So, what's the first step?
A team of divorce professionals, working together on your behalf, can help you manage these separate but critically related considerations. A coordinated team can potentially decrease the amount of time, financial cost and emotional pain associated with divorce, even in stressful and adversarial divorces.
It's important to be aware of the different divorce negotiation options. When you and your spouse decide which option best suits your family's situation, you can proceed to seek out the right qualified professionals (lawyer, financial divorce expert, tax expert, therapist, parenting plan specialist, etc.) to assist with your divorce.
Face-to-Face Negotiation Option
You and your spouse would sit down and negotiate your own agreement. You would have to set aside any emotional issues and be on good speaking terms. You would have a good understanding of family law pertaining to your family's situation. You may need to draw on outside parties to provide you with information such as valuing certain assets, future income, budgets, tax implications etc. You would have to obtain legal assistance to draft the agreement that you come up with on your own.
Mediation Option
A mediator is a neutral third party who would facilitate negotiations directly between you and your spouse. You and your spouse work out your own settlement and issues with the assistance of the mediator. The mediator cannot give you legal advice or side with one party or another during the process. Outside professionals would be involved to provide information about items that are being negotiated (financial, parenting, etc) Any agreement reached in mediation would then be reviewed by your own independent lawyers.
Collaborative Family Law Option
Collaborative Family Law is the process where you and your spouse each have a lawyer assisting and coaching both of you during negotiations and providing legal advice. Both spouses and their lawyers would sign a contract confirming that you will make every effort to settle the case without going to court. If the process breaks down, and you cannot reach an agreement, the collaborative lawyers working for both spouses cannot act for you in court.
With the Collaborative Law option, you can start the process through whichever professional you choose to work with first. Together, the lawyer, the financial divorce specialist, family therapist, parenting plan specialist and other professionals, all work together on your behalf. The settlement agreement issues are worked out with the appropriate expert professionals throughout the. negotiation process. It has been shown that this option is less expensive than going through traditional negotiation.
Traditional Negotiation/Litigation Option
Traditional negotiation involves you and your spouse each retaining a lawyer who would negotiate on your behalf. You are counting on the negotiation skills of your own lawyer to achieve the best settlement for you. You have less control in this process. however, it may be the only option available to you if communications have broken down between you and your spouse.
Litigation is a last resort option in some situations. Each lawyer makes the best case for his or her own client in court. Ultimately, a judge makes a ruling on the issues brought before him that were not resolved through previous methods of negotiation. This process has the highest financial cost.
Regardless of the option you find most suitable for your situation, adding a Divorce Financial Analyst to your Divorce Team will certainly give you peace of mind that you have looked at all the financial angles of your divorce. You will know that you have made informed decisions relative to all the complex issues.
This article is made available to you from Women in Divorce Financial.
Eva Sachs is the founder of Women in Divorce Financial. She is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA™), has her CFP™ designation and is a member of the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts.
She can be reached at esachs@womenindivorcefinancial.ca or by visiting www.womenindivorcefinancial.ca.