Texas Collaborative Divorce Attorneys

Collaborative Divorce is an option for divorcing spouses who agree to keep their case out of the courtroom and who historically have been able to make important decisions together. Most people feel better about solutions they had a hand in creating rather than having solutions imposed upon them. Couples who choose the collaborative model retain and equally share control over the decisions that will affect their future lives instead of handing that power over to a judge or jury.

Divorce is never pleasant, but it is possible to move out of the process without a lot of bitterness and resentment. This is especially important if children of any age are involved, and you have hope for a productive future co-parenting relationship.

The signing of the Participation Agreement and the contractually agreed-upon boundaries that are put in place as part of it serve to promote a safe environment that is characterized by confidentiality, mutual respect, and control over the outcome. At the same time, the threat of the courtroom is eliminated.

The participants’ specially-trained Collaborative Divorce attorneys guide the participants through a series of scheduled meetings with pre-planned agendas, during which the participants work their way through the substantive issues that must be addressed and resolved as part of any divorce.

Issues unique to the participants, such as minor children, small businesses, retirement, or complex financial investments can be addressed with or without the assistance of jointly-engaged neutral professionals, such as child specialists, financial consultants, business valuation experts, estate planning professionals, and others. The participants themselves, with the counsel of their respective attorneys, determine whether and when to involve such neutrals.

Once a final agreement is achieved, the Collaborative Divorce lawyers will jointly draft the final documents and file them with the appropriate court for approval.

The spouses in a Collaborative Divorce will participate in a series of preplanned, face-to-face meetings with a team consisting of their lawyers, along with a neutral mental health professional, and a neutral financial professional. The joint meetings are typically limited to two hours in length and occur on a schedule determined by the clients’ needs and desires. The average collaborative case usually resolves in four to six joint meetings. Any of the highly experienced Collaborative Divorce attorneys in our Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Granbury, Midland, and Plano offices can help prepare you for the process and what to expect during these meetings.

Although both Collaborative Divorce and divorce mediation are confidential, non-adversarial methods of resolving family law conflicts without going to court, the similarities end there. Mediation is a process that typically takes place over the course of one or two long days lasting 10 to 12 hours. A neutral third person called a mediator meets privately with each party and his or her lawyer over the course of the day to gather information, explore options, and facilitate a binding agreement.

If an agreement is reached, it is reduced to writing on the spot, and everyone signs the document before adjourning the session. If no agreement is reached, the process typically ends. Mediation is an excellent settlement tool that is highly favored by both the courts and most lawyers because of its high success rate in resolving conflict without going to court. Unfortunately, mediation is most effective when utilized in the shadow of the courthouse. In other words, the optimal time to mediate arises only after the parties have already invested untold thousands of dollars and months of time litigating the conflict. By this point in the case, the parties are usually emotionally exhausted, financially drained, and yet still must face the prospect of a looming final trial date in the near future. This places tremendous pressure on both sides to make high-stakes decisions in an extremely compressed timeframe.

In stark contrast to traditional mediation, the Collaborative Divorce model completely eliminates the threat of the courthouse from the outset. Additionally, instead of creating a high-pressure environment near the end of the case in which the parties are required to make important decisions in one or two marathon sessions, the Collaborative Divorce model schedules multiple shorter meetings from the very beginning of the divorce. These meetings usually last no longer than two hours each and are spread out over several weeks, with Collaborative Divorce lawyers doing offline work behind the scenes in between each meeting. Each meeting has a pre-planned agenda that the parties themselves have a hand in setting, so there are no surprises during the meetings.

As tentative agreements are achieved, they are noted in the minutes of the meeting, but the parties are free to reconsider until all issues have been similarly addressed. At that point, a comprehensive and binding agreement is circulated. Only after all questions and been addressed satisfactorily do the parties bind themselves to the final, comprehensive agreement.

The Collaborative Divorce model is completely different than the traditional litigation model for divorce, and it is both established by, and protected by, Texas law. Once the spouses “opt-in” to the collaborative process by signing the Participation Agreement, the judge legally cannot interfere with the divorce process, except in very limited circumstances.

So long as the spouses choose to remain in the process, they remain the sole decision-makers. If either spouse decides to “opt-out” of the process to return to litigation, both spouses must hire new trial attorneys, as the collaborative lawyers are required by Texas law to withdraw. Although most collaborative attorneys are also trial attorneys, they cannot serve in both roles in the same case.

This unique feature of the Collaborative Divorce model enables the whole process to work seamlessly because it keeps the lawyer’s interests aligned with the client’s interests.

If you are considering a legal action such as divorce, a contested property division, or a child custody modification, and you’ve been searching for collaborative divorce lawyers near me, Goranson Bain Ausley lawyers are available in multiple locations in Texas. Our experienced lawyers can help you formulate a strategy that will move you toward a successful outcome. You can find some of the most qualified and effective Collaborative Divorce attorneys in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Granbury, Midland and Plano at our firm, as our team includes former judges and some of the state’s most respected family law attorneys. We offer you a clear perspective that will help you decide whether it is best to pursue your objectives through litigation, Collaborative Divorce, or other alternative dispute resolution methods.