Divorce is one of life’s most difficult tests. The stress that the traditional adversarial litigation divorce can have on employees cost business owners countless dollars every year. Further, a private business is seen by Florida law as a potential marital asset, to be divided in divorce just like 401(k)’s, jewelry, or furniture. When a business is put in the spotlight of a traditional courtroom divorce, Florida’s sunshine laws dictate that the remains of the business can be picked apart in detail by competitors sifting through a public court file.
Collaborative family law (also known as collaborative divorce), by contrast, is non-adversarial. The spouses’ attorneys are not seen as “opposing counsel,” but rather as teammates. The clients themselves are not seen as “opposing parties,” but rather as co-parents or simply people looking to transition to the next stage of their lives.
Collaborative attorneys can only help the spouses reach an out-of-court settlement, so no time, money, or energy is spent on opposition research, dirty litigation tactics, or preparing for a costly trial. This greatly reduces the stress on spouses and mitigates productivity losses.
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