Video: What is Collaborative Divorce? by Cypress Collaborative

Collaborative divorce starts out with a pledge by both spouses: We will not fight one another in court. Each spouse hires his and her own attorney, and the two attorneys and two clients sign a participation agreement formalizing the pledge not to fight one another. The attorneys are then barred from filing any contested legal pleadings or appearing in any contested hearings on behalf of the clients.

In the most common collaborative divorce model that we use in Tampa Bay, a neutral facilitator, who generally has a mental health background, is retained to help the clients focus on the future and the issues (such as parenting) that are most important to them rather than the arguments of the past. Additionally, a financial professional is retained to cost-effectively ensure that each has retained sufficient financial disclosure (i.e., trust but verify) and to help them development financial options that are tailored to their family.

Cypress collaborative, a group of experienced collaborative professionals in Washington State, have put together a fantastic video that further explains the collaborative process. You can see the video after the jump.

We have great experienced collaborative professionals in the Tampa Bay area who can help you through your collaborative divorce process. Adam B. Cordover, who now practices exclusively in out-of-court dispute resolution, is one of the most experienced collaborative divorce lawyers in Tampa, and he can put together a team that would best fit for your family.

If you have questions regarding how the collaborative divorce process can help your family, contact Family Diplomacy: A Collaborative Law Firm, at (813) 443-0615 or by filling out our contact form.