Five Reasons to Choose Collaborative Divorce

In the past, we’ve offered up a number of ways to look at collaborative divorce vs. a traditional courtroom divorce, including this list which lives on the main Collaborative Law Institute of Texas website.

There’s a slightly different take on the advantages of collaborative divorce on this site from New York-based law firm Berkman Bottger Newman & Rodd that’s worth reading. Their article, “Top Five Reasons to Choose Collaborative Divorce over Litigation,” does a great job at putting some of the points we’ve been making about collaborative divorce for years now.

It starts with “emotional advantages,” citing the impact that a divorce has on a couple and showing that while the courts don’t account for emotions — in fact, the courtroom can further test emotions by encouraging adversarial behavior and putting life-changing decisions into the hands of a judge — collaborative divorce “is a more compassionate approach that considers your objectives and views, allowing you and your spouse to make your own decisions.”

The blog article also cites an MSNBC article demonstrating that collaborative divorce is most cost-effective, on average, when compared to litigation and negotiated settlements. Of course, every case is different, but the “problem solving focus” that collaborative brings (which is another advantage they identify) helps to control costs even in complicated cases. There’s definitely a cost-consciousness in collaborative law, as the professionals involved aren’t looking for a win-win solution rather than a win.