Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: distress
Collaborative divorce is a way for people who are getting divorced to work together with professionals like lawyers, coaches, and finance experts to come up with an agreement that works for everyone. The goal is to avoid going to court and to save money. Each person hires a lawyer, and they all meet to talk about things like who will take care of the kids and how to divide up their things. They have to be nice to each other and can't threaten to go to court. If they can't be nice, the meetings stop, and the lawyers can't help them anymore.
Collaborative divorce is a way for couples to work together to negotiate a divorce agreement with the help of professionals. This method is used when the spouses are not on bad terms and want to avoid the costly and difficult process of litigation.
The process involves each spouse hiring a lawyer and sitting down with specialists such as a divorce coach or finance specialist to resolve disagreements. The key feature of collaborative divorce is that neither party can use or threaten to use the court system in the meetings. If they do, the collaboration meetings will cease, and each lawyer can no longer be involved in the dispute.
For example, if a couple wants to get a divorce but wants to avoid going to court, they can choose to use collaborative divorce. They would each hire a lawyer and work with a divorce coach to negotiate the terms of their divorce agreement. If one spouse threatens to take the case to court, the collaboration meetings would end, and the lawyers would no longer be involved.