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 emotional issues and the distance between the outcomes each party hopes to acheiveachieve. 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 opinion 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 replaced 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 communication skills that can be helpful during the negotiation process.

The collaborative process normally ends with the signing of the final agreement. However, until and unless the participation agreement is cancelled or set aside, the lawyers will remain bound by the terms of the agreement and cannot start a court proceeding on things covered by the separation agreement, even to enforce the agreement.

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

The collaborative law team is made up of psychological counsellors ("divorce coaches")includes the parties' lawyers, family law lawyerswith special training in collaborative processes, and may also include mental health professionals, usually psychologists or registered clinical counsellors, who work as the parties' divorce coaches, a financial specialist and a child specialist who . The team members work together cooperatively with each other and the spouses parties, and their sometimes the parties' children.  The degree to which each of these types of professional professionals may become involved will depend on the particular circumstances of each couple. For some couples, the child specialist will become a the key team member, for others it may be their divorce coaches; . A financial specialist may be unnecessary when the financial issues are straightforward, but when they are particularly complicated, the financial specialist may be unnecessarycritical to the success of the collaborative process.

The role of the lawyers in the collaborative law process is to advance the needs and protect the interests of each clienttheir respective clients. The lawyers advise their clients on their legal rights and obligations, and provide them with information about the law, and likely the probable long- and short-term results of any particular course decision. However, in the collaborative approach to dispute resolution, the lawyers are also part of actiona team which is collectively dedicated to finding a comprehensive settlement. As a result, the parties' lawyers can be expected to behave in a much more transparent manner and work in a manner which is geared towards both parties' success.

The divorce coaches are psychologists and counsellors. They help guide their clients through the emotional turbulence of the breakdown of their relationship , and assist each party in maintaining an a relatively objective view of the situation. They may also help their clients develop their views on the issues and teach held them develop more effective communication strategies. The divorce coaches will talk to each other and to the lawyers during the collaborative process, and share their respective clients' experiences and concerns. The divorce coaches may also work together, sometimes in joint sessions with the parties, to develop strategies and solutions for the benefit of everyone.

This person financial advisor is a neutral party in the process, someone without any loyalty to one spouse or the other either party, 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 their short- and long-term futureneeds.

This person child specialist is another neutral party whose . His or her job is to represent the interests of the children, without any duty of loyalty duty to either parent. While all of the team members are of the process are course 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 help 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 collaborative process participation agreement in a new window. You will may require Adobe Acrobat Reader a PDF reader to view this file, ; Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free program PDF reader available for download from <span style="color: red;">Adobe Software</span>. In this sample, Jane Doe and John Doe are entering into a participation agreement with their lawyers, Alice Smith and Sylvia Black.

Participation AgreementThis 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 and may it not reflect the terms of the agreement you will enter sign into if you chose the decide to use a collaborative law settlement process. Use it as a reference only.