What I Need to Know about the Collaborative Divorce Process

Authored by Sara Schuler, Esq.

Collaborative Divorce is an excellent process for most people going through a divorce, but there are things you should know before starting. The Collaborative Process utilizes a team-based approach which focuses on what is best for the couple or family as a whole.  In a traditional divorce, whether it be by mediation, traditional settlement negotiations, or litigation, the focus can be on trying to obtain as much as possible in your “column” without focusing on the bigger picture of what would be the best solution to benefit the entire family.

What you should know about Collaborative Divorce before you start:

1. The Collaborative Divorce Process is guided by statute in Virginia, specifically, Virginia Code Section 20-168 (Uniform Collaborative Law Act), so there are specific rules that the parties and professionals need to follow.
2. You enter into a binding agreement called the “Collaborative Participation Agreement”, which expresses the parties’ intention to resolve the divorce matter without litigation, and sets forth the rules for the Collaborative Process.
3. All communications throughout the Collaborative Process are confidential, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties (or unless a specific exception in the statute applies).
4. Both parties agree in the Collaborative Participation Agreement that they will voluntarily provide full disclosure of all relevant information, without the need to go through the formal discovery process, as if in litigation.
5. You have the ultimate right to confidentiality for anything that you disclose to your attorney.  However, if you exercise your right to confidentiality regarding something that is relevant to the process, and the attorney feels that it should be disclosed, the attorney will not disclose that information, but will need to withdraw as your counsel.
6. If either attorney discovers that there has been a history of family abuse, they will not begin or continue a Collaborative case unless they believe that the safety of the party can be adequately protected during the process.
7. The Collaborative Process may be terminated at any time by either party, upon reasonable notice, as outlined in the Uniform Collaborative Law Act.
8. The Collaborative Process is also terminated upon the filing of a pleading with a court related to the matters set to be resolved between the parties.
9. Your Collaborative Lawyer may not represent you in litigation if the Collaborative Process terminates.  However, they may represent you in the event that there is an emergency matter that needs to be litigated between the parties, and another lawyer is not immediately available for either or both parties.

Fairfax Divorce Lawyer Sara Leiner Schuler is the past President of the Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia (CPNV), and represents clients in the Collaborative Divorce process, a voluntary team-based approach in which a couple chooses to divorce without contested litigation to best meet their respective individual needs and the needs of any minor children.  She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), and practices all aspects of family law in the Northern Virginia area, including Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, Spousal Support and Alimony, Prenuptial Agreements, Step-Parent Adoptions (including Same-Sex Step-Parent Adoptions), Uncontested Divorces, and Enforcement Issues.