Difference between revisions of "Collaborative Negotiation"

Once full disclosure has been made, the parties then begin to talk about what their personal interests and expectations are, and about what potential settlements might look like. This can be a short process or a long process, depending on the complexity of the emptional issues and the distance between the outcomes each party hopes to acheive. It may be necessary to delay things to get financial advice or for a property or business to be valued, to get some counselling, or to get an opintion from the child specialist.  

Along the way, depending on the nature of the issues, one or more temporary agreements may be reached. These are not meant to be a final determination of the issues, rather they are temporary, stop-gap solutions intended to deal with problems like the sale of the family home, the parties' time with the children over holidays and so forth. These interim agreements will all be repleaced by the final agreement.

You may want to have a look at the discussion "Tips for Successful Mediation" in the <span style="color: red;">Alternatives to Court > Mediation</span> page for information about communications skills that can be helpful during the negotiation process.

The collaborative process normally ends with the signing of the final agreement.

Have a look at the <span style="color: red;">Family Agreements > Sepration Agreeements</span> page for a discussion about separation agreements and their effect.

The collaborative law team is made up of psychological counsellors ("divorce coaches"), family law lawyers, a financial specialist and a child specialist who work together with the spouses and their children. The degree to which each of these types of professional may become involved will depend on the particular circumstances of each couple. For some couples, the child specialist will become a key member, for others it may be their divorce coaches; when the financial issues are straightforward, the financial specialist may be unnecessary.

The role of the lawyers in the collaborative law process is to advance the needs and protect the interests of each client. The lawyers advise their clients on their legal rights and obligations, and provide them with information about the law, and likely long- and short-term results of any particular course of action.

The divorce coaches are counsellors. They help guide their clients through emotional turbulence of the breakdown of their relationship and assist each party in maintaining an objective view of the situation. They may also help their clients develop their views on the issues and teach them effective communication strategies.

This person is a neutral party in the process, someone without any loyalty to one spouse or the other who is able to look at things objectively and impartially. His or her job is to present options to help the parties deal with the financial aspects of their relationship, in terms of both the present and the long-term future.

This person is another neutral party whose job is to represent the interests of the children, without any loyalty duty to either parent. While all the members of the process are concerned about the best interests of the children, the purposes of the child specialist are to ensure that the children remain a primary concern, that the parties develop a proper parenting plan, and to help identify and address issues regarding the children's future care.

The link below will open a sample participation agreement in a new window. You will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file, a free program available for download from Adobe Software.

This sample document is just that: a sample. While it represents a more or less accurate picture of how these sorts of agreements might look, it may not be applicable to your situation nor may it reflect the agreement you will enter into if you chose the collaborative law process. Use it as a reference only.