Do You Have to Have a Collaborative Divorce Proceeding if the Divorce is Uncontested?

If you come into the office with a divorce agreement that has already been agreed upon and that is not contested, you are not going to have to do any collaboration. You can move forward with your divorce and get it settled as quickly as possible.

Are All Divorce Proceedings Collaborative?

Not all divorce proceedings are going to be collaborative. Some are contested, where they must go to court to be decided. Some are not contested, and the couple comes in with the terms already determined, and all that needs to be done is to finalize the process.

How Long Can Collaboration Last?

This depends on the individuals, how the collaboration goes, and how the terms are agreed upon. It can be a single visit that is amicable and agreed upon without any hassle. It can be a longer process that does take several visits and several back-and-forth agreements. Or, it can be a process that cannot be determined by collaboration.

What Happens When a Collaboration doesn’t Work?

The attorney and clients sign a paper at the beginning of the collaboration process. This states that if the process does not work and the terms cannot be agreed upon, the attorney will withdraw, and the case will then need to go to court.

Are Agreements Made During Collaboration Instantly Binding?

The terms will not be legal and binding until they are agreed upon by both parties, until the terms are written, and the papers have been entered into the record. They can be changed up to the point that they are submitted to the court and entered in the record.

New Albany Collaborative Divorce Attorney

A divorce could be one of the most stressful times of your life. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Through a collaborative divorce, the two spouses work with their own attorneys. Most Indiana divorce disputes are resolved through an agreement, not a trial, and a collaborative divorce gives the parties the path of least resistance to an agreement.

Have you and your spouse decided to part ways, but there is still good faith between you and not too much spite or anger?

Do you have children, and are you both on the same page (or close to it) about who should have what rights and responsibilities toward child rearing?

Are the two of you on equal footing, or near it, regarding your income and past financial contributions to the household?

Are you amenable to a fair agreement on financial issues?

If yes, a collaborative divorce process may be a good choice for you.

What is a Collaborative Divorce?

When it comes to divorce, it can be challenging to face the fact that a marriage has ended. Unfortunately, many people focus on one or two aspects of their divorce and never try to work out the terms.

With a collaborative divorce, you will be able to negotiate the terms of your divorce with your former spouse to help reach an agreement that works for both parties.

The Indiana Collaborative Divorce Process

You and your spouse meet separately with your own attorney, and the four of you meet regularly to work out your differences. Other professionals may be involved, including child custody specialists and accountants whose goals are to help you resolve your differences without litigation.

This is going to be the best way to ensure that you and your partner can split ways without a huge fight and without a great deal of disagreement that can drag out the process and make it more difficult.

Usually, both spouses and their attorneys sign an agreement that the attorneys will withdraw from the case if it must go to court because the issues can’t be resolved. This helps to ensure that you and your former partner understand the limits of the process and that you can have a goal in mind from the first time you sit down for arbitration.

Even if the process is successful, there needs to be some involvement with the court to effect a divorce. Through a collaborative divorce, you can keep that contact brief, manageable, and at a much lower cost. After an agreement on all the financial and child responsibility issues, the involvement of the legal system is a simple, uncontested procedure that doesn’t involve a trial, hearings, or pretrial matters.

How the Indiana Collaborative Divorce Process Can Help You, Your Spouse, and Your Children

The collaborative process can substantially reduce the anger, frustration, and expense in money, time, and effort that can come with a traditional divorce. Besides, it provides an outcome that can be at least as favorable as what you might achieve through a courtroom battle.

With assistance from a collaborative divorce lawyer, you and your spouse could benefit in many ways:

Stabilize Your Situation through a Temporary Agreement

This will keep children from having to deal with a difficult parting and with an agreement that does not work. A temporary agreement is going to ensure that the children are affected as little as possible by the divorce.

Exchange all Needed Information Voluntarily without Resorting to Court Filings

This will ensure that both parties involved will have access to all the information that is present so that you can ensure that no one is at a disadvantage.

Agree on Legal Procedures to Reduce Costs and Delays by Streamlining the Divorce Process

With something like divorce, the more streamlined and easier the case is to understand, the better. This type of divorce proceeding allows the divorce to move forward quickly.

Negotiate a Fair and Reasonable Settlement that Works for You and Your Children

This will be the least traumatic option for children and can help keep the kids from being dragged into a huge argument and an overall disagreement.

Agree on How any Post-Divorce Issues Will be Addressed

This will help ensure that you can move forward with the divorce and that you will not have to wait to address any disagreements until after the fact.

How We Can Help

Seeking help from our experienced divorce attorneys in New Albany will make life easier for everyone involved. From the start, our collaborative divorce lawyers work with the parties together to create an agreement.

This allows both parties to start their lives over through a fair divorce resolution. We do this without the cost of time, energy, anger, and grief resulting from a heated, confrontational divorce. We carefully handle a collaborative divorce process, especially if children are in the family.

Why the Indiana Collaborative Divorce Process May be Right for You and Your Spouse

There are many reasons to avoid the traditional, confrontational divorce process.

Each side has more control over the outcome. Your opinions and viewpoints will be heard and taken into account when putting an agreement together.
The spouses agree to reach a settlement based on compromise, good faith, and fair play instead of having a judge make decisions that will affect them and their children.
The process is normally less expensive than litigation. Attorney fees and court costs in a contested divorce can quickly add up to substantial amounts of money.
The process consumes less time than litigation. The parties and their attorneys decide the meeting time and place instead of having to accommodate overwhelmed court calendars.
There can be much less stress and anxiety because the parties are playing a more active role and retaining more control of the divorce process.
If the process is successful, there is the satisfaction of not only saving money, time, and energy but also in being mature enough to work together to reach an agreement.

However, the collaborative process is not the right choice for all divorcing couples. For many it may be worth a try, because even if all disputed issues aren’t resolved and the process isn’t completed, the disputes could be reduced, leading to a quicker, less confrontational litigation process.

Why Choose Us

Whether you’ve already decided to get divorced, or you just want to know your options, we can walk you through it. You need to know what to expect, how long it will take, and who will support you, and Church, Langdon, Lopp, Banet Law has the answers.

We can explain the process and answer your most urgent questions, preparing you for the big decisions.

If you are looking for a New Albany collaborative divorce lawyer, contact us online or call us for an appointment at (812) 725-8226.

FAQs About Collaborative Divorce

If you’re thinking about contacting a divorce attorney in New Albany, you probably have some questions, Divorce can be a scary and confusing time and the following are the most common questions we hear along with our answers:

Do You Have to Have a Collaborative Divorce Proceeding if the Divorce is Uncontested?

If you come into the office with a divorce agreement that has already been agreed upon and that is not contested, you are not going to have to do any collaboration. You can move forward with your divorce and get it settled as quickly as possible.
Are All Divorce Proceedings Collaborative?

Not all divorce proceedings are going to be collaborative. Some are contested, where they must go to court to be decided. Some are not contested, and the couple comes in with the terms already determined, and all that needs to be done is to finalize the process.
How Long Can Collaboration Last?

This depends on the individuals, how the collaboration goes, and how the terms are agreed upon. It can be a single visit that is amicable and agreed upon without any hassle. It can be a longer process that does take several visits and several back-and-forth agreements. Or, it can be a process that cannot be determined by collaboration.
What Happens When a Collaboration doesn’t Work?

The attorney and clients sign a paper at the beginning of the collaboration process. This states that if the process does not work and the terms cannot be agreed upon, the attorney will withdraw, and the case will then need to go to court.
Are Agreements Made During Collaboration Instantly Binding?

The terms will not be legal and binding until they are agreed upon by both parties, until the terms are written, and the papers have been entered into the record. They can be changed up to the point that they are submitted to the court and entered in the record.