Collaborative Law
Divorcing couples choose collaborative law (also known as collaborative practice) for these reasons:
- each spouse has his or her own lawyer who is specially trained in settling cases,
- multiple meetings are held, with lawyers and clients present,
- the emphasis is on cooperation, not adversity,
- the clients decide the issues and propose solutions,
- the process is practical and efficient,
- a brief time-frame is involved,
- it’s less expensive than Court,
- the same financial disclosure is available as required in Court,
- the law of Ontario is followed unless the spouses agree otherwise,
- creative solutions can be developed,
- there is access to family and financial professionals who can bring specialized skills and information to the table.
Access to Other Collaborative Professionals
Using the collaborative process, you can ask a financial planner, chartered business valuator and/or a mental health professional to help you and your lawyers settle your case sooner, and at lower cost.
Here are some of the ways that these experts can help:
- A child specialist can help you and your spouse to see eye-to-eye on a schedule for sharing time with the children.
- Financial professionals can generate options for financial settlement, and run projections to demonstrate what the long-term impacts of a financial settlement on each spouse would be.
- If one or both spouses become emotional in meetings, an experienced mental health professional can chair meetings and identify triggers so that the productivity of a collaborative meeting can be maximized.