A lawyer’s primary role in family law is, in its simplest version, widely understood. They are there to provide legal advice, advocate for you as their client, and guide you through the litigation process. In litigation, parties who are separating hire lawyers because they typically have little to no knowledge of the legal system, and they need the help.
There may be other individuals brought into the mix, as well. If your former partner owns a business, you may need to hire an external valuator to help determine the value of their business. Similarly, if you think they may be hiding assets, you may need to hire financial professionals to investigate. If you’re struggling at co-parenting, you may need to bring in a parenting coordinator, who can help put systems in place.
Usually, the involvement of outside professionals is because things have gotten contentions, but not so in Collaborative family law. In a Collaborative process, external professionals are brought in regularly, but under very different terms. Not only do both parties agree on the professional, but they know that that person is there to help support everyone’s interests.
Who is involved in Collaborative family law, and what roles do they play?
Lawyers
As we spoke about in our previous piece on Collaborative family law, your lawyer plays a different role and takes a different approach in this process. Forget about the lawyer who you’ve seen on television and the movies arguing ferociously in a courtroom. While these lawyers are often litigators, and have that experience, that’s not their role here.
Collaborative family lawyers take a very different posture. Yes, they are still there to provide legal advice and guidance, and their ultimate goal is to help craft a separation agreement. However, they’re not there to fight, and they’re not there to make the fight any worse. Instead, their primary work is to listen, offer suggestions, and help facilitate a resolution with the least amount of conflict.
That may even mean the lawyers working together differently than they might on a litigation file. Instead of taking an acrimonious or hostile approach, Collaborative family law allows the lawyers to communicate and collaborate more freely. Lawyers can easily jump on the phone, or send quick emails to exchange ideas, and come up with solutions that they may not have thought of on their own.
Financial Professionals
In an acrimonious separation, it’s easy to believe that your ex is taking advantage of your situation financially. Whether there are allegations of hiding or underreporting income or using a corporate entity to hide income, things can quickly become messy. One partner may hire a professional valuator, at high cost, to see if their former partner has been honest in their financial disclosure.
In Collaborative family law, financial professionals may still be retained, but without that same acrimony. Their role is as a neutral advisor, who assists without bias to help put both parties in their best financial position. Instead of either side hiring costly experts, the parties can share an expert who has everyone’s interests in mind. This may be a chartered accountant, a certified business valuator, or another financial professional with some expertise in Collaborative family law.
Here, their role looks different. They can provide a valuation without having to navigate any animosity. If a couple is using the Collaborative process to draft their separation agreement, and need a valuation on their business, home, or other assets, then a valuator can assist by telling you what those assets are worth.
In a Collaborative process, financial professionals can also offer advice to both parties to help put them in the best possible position. Instead of dividing everything as a court might, a Collaborative professional can advise where it may be smarter for one party to keep an asset wholly, or for proceeds of a sale to be put towards a savings goal. It may look different for every family, but the professionals have the experience to offer the necessary advice.
Family/Support
Just because a couple is using a Collaborative process, there may still be disagreements about parenting or other family issues. How will parenting time be divided in a way that makes sense for everyone? How will disputes be resolved without having to run to court and seek urgent and expensive motions?
Family professionals may be social workers, therapists, mediators, or other trained professionals who know how to deal specifically with these family issues. They recognize the issues that this transition into separate families has on parents and children alike. They know how to help everyone navigate those issues in ways that work best for them.
Collaborative family law allows you to work with a family professional on your own terms, instead of having those terms imposed by a court. Parenting time may look creative, and unlike more typical arrangements, but they’re ones that will work for the whole family. These professionals can also help counsel children specifically through the adjustment period, and deal with any issues that arise.
Just because a separation agreement is signed, that does not mean that issues are solved forever. If a problem does arise later on, either with a partner or with a child, you may want to continue working with that family professional privately to deal with issues as they arise.
Final Thoughts
The most important person in the entire Collaborative process is not a professional – it’s you. Your willingness and openness to participate, and to find workable solutions, are what makes everyone else’s work feasible. The Collaborative process helps keep you in the driver’s seat, but it would not be possible without your full support.
Remember that Collaborative family law is not for everyone. The process begins with screening for intimate partner violence (“IPV”), and a history of or current presence of IPV may mean that Collaborative work is not possible. Both parties need to be voluntarily involved in the process, and there is a significant power imbalance if one partner has been abusive or violent towards the other.
The Collaborative family law process is fully voluntary, and those involved can leave and pursue litigation at any time. However, if you are a candidate for Collaborative family law, then it may offer you a quicker and less expensive solution to ending your relationship on the best terms possible. We have two talented family lawyers on our team certified in Collaborative family law who are happy to guide you through the process. Contact us today to set up a consultation.