The term “collaborative divorce” refers to the process where spouses work together to create mutually agreeable arrangements for their divorce. When people list the benefits of collaborative divorce, they will often include how it can protect children from an acrimonious divorce and help people be better co-parents afterward by giving them a chance to work together.
Another benefit that applies to everyone, regardless of whether they have children or not, is that collaborative divorce can result in a much less expensive divorce. It’s possible to keep your pending divorce more affordable if you work with your spouse instead of fighting them.
The cost of going to court is often one of the biggest expenses in a divorce. The less time you spend in front of a judge, the less you will pay to the courts and to your attorneys. By working collaboratively and filing an uncontested divorce, you and your spouse can potentially reduce how much you pay for your divorce by a significant amount when compared with the average cost of a litigated divorce.
The financial impact may seem less severe when you set the terms
If you have certain assets that matter to you more than others, losing them because a judge doesn’t understand their value to you could be a serious hardship during a divorce and afterwards. When you work collaboratively with your spouse, you can push for the terms that matter the most to you, allowing you to feel like got the best possible outcome. An attorney with experience in collaborative divorce can help you do that.