COLLABORATIVE LAW

UPDATE: The Texas Legislature passed several bills this session that affect family law issues in their most recent session. Collaborative Law is one of the areas that has new statutes in the Texas Family Code, effective September 1st.

Jill is a trained and experienced collaborative law attorney and is a member of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas.

Collaborative Law allows you to retain their dignity and self-respect throughout the process of divorce while working with your lawyer to reach a settlement. Each party focuses on reaching an acceptable resolution and not on "winning" and "losing".

Collaborative Law is a great alternative to a traditional litigation divorce. It is different from litigation because you and your spouse control the process because you are able to make choices. It is dissolving your marriage without going to court  and allowing you to redefine your family without fighting every step of the way. For example, if you have children, you and your spouse can make adjustments to a standard schedule and agree to a schedule that works for you and your children's schedule to work around their extracurricular activities or a parent's travel schedule. If the children are older (the teen years), you can also talk about schedules because teens have unique schedules.

If you and your spouse decide to use the collaborative approach, then, each spouse hires an attorney trained and experienced in the collaborative method, and each party and their respective attorney sign an agreement to not go to court. Your attorney remains your advocate throughout the process.

Two neutral professionals (a financial professional and a communication professional) are also part of the team; however they are neutral and not advocates for either party. You have the opportunity to resolve the conflicts in your divorce in joint meetings. You and your spouse will work to make the decisions in the case, with the professional team, and reach results that are acceptable to each of you. The process is driven by you and your spouse, not the court and not the attorneys.

If you would like to discuss collaborative law more fully, please call and we will be happy to set an appointment for you.