Tag Archive for: International Academy of Collaborative Professionals

St. Petersburg and Clearwater Bar Associations Hold CLE on Collaborative Divorce

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The urge for a more humane way to practice divorce law has hit Pinellas County.  The days of pitting husband versus wife, mother versus father in an adversarial courtroom divorce have both attorneys and clients pining for a private, healthier alternative to deal with family law issues.

And so the Saint Petersburg Bar Association and Clearwater Bar Association have invited Adam B. Cordover, Esq., John L. Sullivan, IV, CDFA, and James B. Morris, Jr., Ph.D., to discuss the interdisciplinary collaborative divorce model at their annual Family Law Update.  The 2014 Family Law Update is approved for 4.0 general continuing legal education hours and 3.5 hours for purposes of Marital and Family Law certification.

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A Really Quick Divorce Option in Florida

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The Chicago Tribune recently reported on a form of collaborative family law being offered as a “Weekend Divorce.”  Here is more:

Breaking up is hard to do—even when both husband and wife are ready to bring their marriage to an end. As a result, divorce can often be financially devastating and time consuming.

Against that backdrop, attorneys Sandra Young and Brian Garvey have developed an innovative antidote that is believed to be the first of its kind anywhere: “The Weekend Divorce.”

A centerpiece of their streamlined approach is booking a hotel conference room for two days and negotiating every detail of the divorce agreement and signing all documents by the time the couple leaves on Sunday.

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Collaborative Divorce (aka Collaborative Law or Collaborative Practice) is a “no-court-client-centered” dispute resolution process that separating spouses can use with the help of specially trained and licensed legal, mental health and financial professionals.

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Private Child Custody Proceedings: Florida Collaborative Practice

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When people are seeking to gain child custody rights in Florida – whether through divorce, paternity, establishment of parenting plan, grandparent custody, or other proceedings – the first step they usually take is file a petition with the Clerk of the Court.

Generally speaking, this is a mistake.

By filing a petition, they are entering into the public court system which pits mother against father.  This is an adversarial system which oftentimes leads parties to engage in emotionally and financially draining court battles, and all dirty laundry gets examined and aired.

But there is another way, a private way of determining parental responsibility and child time-sharing schedules.  It is called collaborative practice, also known as collaborative family law.

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Video: Ellie Izzo Discusses Collaborative Divorce Streamlined Protocols

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On March 20-22, 2014, the Collaborative Divorce Institute of Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce Group are teaming up to sponsor a Basic & Advanced training for attorneys, psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, accountants, financial advisors, and mediators.

The training will provide professionals tools to help their clients go through a private, respectful collaborative divorce process, and to do so in a cost-effective way which creates a budget and roadmap for the process and helps clients move through difficult emotional roadblocks.

Interested professionals can find a registration form at the following link: http://collaborativedivorcetampabay.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/March-2014-CDITB-TBCDG-Streamlined-Protocols-Training-Registration-Form.pdf

Dr. Ellie Izzo, one of the trainers coming to Tampa, discusses the Streamlined Protocols at the following link (from a previous training):

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Florida Divorce, Financial Affidavits, and Privacy

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In almost any Florida family law matter that involves financial issues, such as child support, alimony, division of property and debt, or attorney’s fees, parties are required to exchange and file Florida Family Law Financial Affidavits.  Financial Affidavits outline each party’s source(s) of income, as well as expenses, assets, and liabilities.

And, when they are filed, they become part of the public record, accessible by anyone.

Most people, for any number reasons, do not want their financial profile to become public.  And yet, when people go through the traditional litigated divorce, that’s exactly what happens.

But it does not need to be that way.

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A Peaceful Divorce in Tampa Bay?

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I recently returned from a conference of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, where approximately 400 attorneys, psychologists, therapists, accountants, and financial planners from all around the world gathered to learn how to help families through collaborative divorce (a process where clients agree to settle their disputes privately and attorneys are contractually barred from bringing contested issues in front of a judge to decide).

During the conference, I was reminded that colleagues in Israel refer to collaborative practice in Hebrew as “L’hitgaresh B’Shalom,” which literally translates as “To Divorce In Peace” or “The Peaceful Divorce.”

This is not to say that collaborative divorce is an easy process.  Another Tampa attorney refers to collaborative divorce as “the tough, but sensible, way to resolve family disputes,” and that’s an apt description.  After all, divorce – no matter how it is resolved – is a difficult and emotional process.

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