Collaborative Divorce : Family Diplomacy | A Collaborative Law Firm

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE AND FAMILY LAW IN FLORIDA. No matter how you look at it, divorce and family law matters are difficult to go through. Expectations of stability are shattered,

mistrust grows, and bills pile up. And then the litigation begins. Attorneys file and serve petitions, counterpetitions, requests to produce, and motions to compel. Each party hires dueling mental health experts to convince a judge that he or she should have more time with the children. Privacy is eliminated as each party’s life is probed and publicly questioned so that one side may gain a tactical advantage.

But there is a different way. A more civilized way. And it is called Collaborative Family Law (also known as Collaborative Divorce or Collaborative Practice).

We are a Collaborative law firm dedicated to helping people resolve personal disputes without destroying their families. We encourage the use of the Collaborative Family Law model in divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, post-judgment, prenuptial, and most other family law cases. Further, Adam B. Cordover is an internationally-recognized leader in Collaborative Practice, a trainer who teaches other professionals how to help families Collaboratively, and author of an upcoming American Bar Association book on Collaborative Law.

A Former Judge’s Take on the Family Court System

December 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative child specialist, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

As a Florida family law attorney, I tell clients all the time that – for the sake of their children, finances, and sanity – it is best if divorcing spouses are able to reach an agreement on their own, without leaving important decisions that will affect the rest of their lives up to a judge. I have found that interdisciplinary collaborative practice is the best way for families to reach a resolution, though other options (such as mediation and direct negotiations) are also almost always better than the court system.

Sue Cochrane, who served as a family law judge in Minnesota, also believes that the current family court system is broken. Below are excerpts of an article she penned for The Collaborative Review (Winter 2014 / Volume 15, Issue 1):

After eighteen years on the family bench I am sensitive to the needs of the thousands who still show up [to court] due to lack of funds or awareness of other options. Having Collaborative practitioners and others from diverse disciplines working side-by side with those of us from the courts was, in my opinion, a monumental advancement.

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The law is well-known for being logical and dispassionate. Courts are where intellect and linear, analytic thinking prevails. In the admirable pursuit of truth and justice, the courts can inadvertently deny the humanity of the people it is supposed to serve and even of the judges and staff who work there.

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Advanced Training: Get More Collaborative Cases!

November 22, 2014/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative divorce, collaborative divorce trainingby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Are you an attorney, mental health professional, financial professional, or mediator who wants to build a profitable and satisfying collaborative practice? Do you want more collaborative cases? Next Generation Divorce has a training geared to you:

Woody Mosten is Coming to Tampa February 27-28, 2015. Click Here To Learn More

Forrest “Woody” Mosten has an international reputation for high quality Mediation and Collaborative training from introductory courses to advanced supervision for highly experienced peacemakers. He maintains an intense focus on cutting edge issues in law and the craft of conflict resolution skill building, and enjoys helping other professionals build their own profitable practices.

Woody Mosten’s Training is an Approved Continuing Education Provider by the California State Bar CLE & Family Law Specialization, the California Psychological Association Accrediting Agency, and the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Most courses are approved by the Association for Conflict Resolution and may qualify for credit by other agencies and organizations throughout the world.

Podcast: Comparing Collaborative Divorce and Mediation

November 15, 2014/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce, Divorce, Divorce Work //Tags: alternative dispute resolution, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, divorce, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, mediation, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Garin Vick in Tampa, Florida, where we recorded an interview for his podcast show, Divorce without Destruction. We discussed the similarities and differences between collaborative divorce and mediation.

We talked about how both are forms of private dispute resolution that are better than duking it out in court. We also discussed how the structure and the process of collaborative divorce and mediation differ, and what it means for families going through or considering divorce.

Florida Collaborative Divorce: A Flowchart

November 8, 2014/1 Comment/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: business valuation, child custody, child support, co-parenting, collaborative attorney, collaborative child specialist, collaborative divorce, collaborative divorce training, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, equitable distribution, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Many people come to my Tampa office because they heard collaborative divorce is private, respectful, conducive to co-parenting, and usually quicker than the traditional courtroom divorce. But they do not quite understand logistically how the collaborative process works.

The first thing to understand is that each party is represented by his or her own attorney whose sole purpose is to help the parties reach a settlement. The attorneys are contractually barred from engaging in costly, damaging contested court battles. If parties want to fight one another in the court system, they must choose different litigation attorneys.

A neutral facilitator, who usually is licensed in a mental health profession, is involved in most collaborative cases. The facilitator not only helps the parties (and attorneys) focus on the future rather than rehash the arguments of the past, but he or she also teaches the parties communication and dispute resolution techniques that will help them and their families long after the divorce is finalized.

A neutral financial professional is also oftentimes used to efficiently ensure financial transparency between the parties, to develop personally-tailored options for support and the division of assets and debts, and to help the clients budget to give them the best chance for financial security once their divorce is finalized.

Some folks are visual learners, and so my firm has created a flowchart that shows how a collaborative case might proceed. Please understand that, depending on the facts of your case and the needs of your family, your collaborative divorce process may be customized differently:

Prenuptial Agreements: Divorce Planning or Collaborative Marriage Planning?

October 27, 2014/2 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, collaborative marriage planning, premarital agreement, prenuptial agreementby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Prenuptial agreements have been around for quite some time in Florida. They are an agreement between people who are about to wed in which the parties set out their rights and responsibilities in a written document that is executed in front of a notary and two witnesses. Prenuptial agreements are oftentimes thought of as “divorce planning” so as to avoid a future nasty court battle, should the parties’ marriage not work out.

But who wants to plan a divorce, especially when you are not even done making the wedding plans?

There is an alternative. It is a new process known as Collaborative Marriage Planning.

Tampa Same Sex Divorce Appeal: Text of Answer Brief

October 13, 2014/2 Comments/in Case Law Update, Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA, gay and lesbian couples, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay parental rights, gay rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex marriageby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe – some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they’re born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others – some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.

But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal – there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution … is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest [lower] court in the land. . . . Our courts have their faults, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird, pg. 274 (1960). Mockingbird is a timeless novel set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Discrimination was the norm and “separate but equal” ruled the day. Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). The words are from a different time, yet they apply directly to the laws being challenged in this Court.

You can find the answer brief in the Tampa same sex divorce appeal at the following link: 2D14-2384 Shaw Appellee’s Answer Brief.

Will a Florida Judge Order a Doggy Custody Schedule?

October 4, 2014/1 Comment/in Case Law Update, Collaborative Divorce, Money & Property, The House //Tags: child custody, child custody case, child custody determination, dog custody, dog support, doggy custody, doggy support, Florida child custody, kitty custody, parent child relationship, pet custody, pet support obligationby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

When two people are getting divorced in Florida, and they have one or more minor children, a custody schedule (now known in Florida as a time-sharing schedule) must be established. Approximately 90-95% of all cases settle at some point (whether it is before the filing of a petition for divorce or after spending tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing for or even going through trial), and so the parties generally end up agreeing to a child time-sharing schedule. But in those times where they do not agree, a Florida family law judge will take the decision out of the hands of the parents and set a time-sharing schedule.

But divorce doesn’t only affect the children. It also affects the family pets. So will a Florida judge order a doggy (or kitty) custody schedule?

Tampa Same Sex Divorce Case First DOMA Challenge Certified to Florida Supreme Court

August 28, 2014/0 Comments/in Case Law Update, Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: 13th Judicial Circuit, collaborative divorce, Collaborative Law, DOMA, Florida Statutes, gay and lesbian couples, gay marriage, gay rights, jurisdiction, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex marriageby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Can two women who were married in Massachusetts but now are residents of Florida divorce in Florida? That is the question that my Tampa client and her wife were looking to have answered in the affirmative. The trial judge determined that she did not have the power to dissolve a marriage that the State of Florida did not recognize.

When we appealed, we asked a panel of judges to skip the normal appellate process and go straight to the Florida Supreme Court. Our argument was that this case involves issues of such public importance, and that determining whether married couples of the same sex can divorce affects the administration of justice throughout the state. Our request for the expedited process was denied.

And then we got word yesterday. The judges of the Second District Court of Appeals decided en banc (with the input of all of the judges of the Court, excluding a judge who had recused himself) that this case should go straight to the Florida Supreme Court.

Below are portions of the brand new ruling:

Florida Bar Family Law Section Moves To File Brief In Same Sex Divorce Appeal

August 16, 2014/3 Comments/in Case Law Update, Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: 13th Judicial Circuit, alternative dispute resolution, appeals, case law, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, Defense of Marriage Act, dissolution of marriage, divorce, DOMA, gay and lesbian couples, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay rights, legal separation, lesbian rights, LGBT family law, LGBT family law rights, marriage equality, same sex couples, same sex divorce, same sex marriage, Second District Court of Appeals, Tampa, uncontested divorceby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

The Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, representing over 4,000 attorneys and affiliate members, has decided to file a brief in a divorce appeal in favor of the right of same sex spouses in Florida to divorce. The Family Law Section is joined by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“AAML”) in what is believed to be the first same sex divorce case in Florida to challenge the state’s Defense of Marriage Act and constitutional amendment banning “gay marriage.”

As an attorney for one of the spouses – who were married in Massachusetts, moved to Florida, and filed for divorce in Hillsborough County – I welcome the support of the Family Law Section and AAML.

In their motion requesting permission to file an amicus brief, the Family Law Section and the AAML write the following:

New Collaborative Divorce Brochure from the IACP

August 7, 2014/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative facilitator, collaborative family law, collaborative financial professional, Collaborative Law, collaborative mental health professional, collaborative practice, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families work through divorce and other issues privately and respectfully, recently put out a new electronic brochure that explains the collaborative divorce process. To view the brochure, click on the link below, then click on the bottom right hand-corner of the brochure and drag to the left to flip through the pages:

http://collaborativepractice.com/media/41538/e_brochure_ENGLISH.swf

You can also find out about collaborative practice in the Greater Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas by going to the website of Next Generation Divorce, a local network of caring collaborative professionals.