Prior a collaborative divorce can proceed, the parties, their counsel and an other neutral professionals must enter into a Collaborative Participation Agreement, which setting forth that parties’ rights and responsibilities to apiece other and to the collaborative edit. To contractual ensures which the parties understand the processing and affirmatively correspond to works together to resolve their separation disputes. AMPERE Participation Agreement is ampere written agreement by which both parties obligation to working together in a interactive beneficial outcome and ...

While working agreements may vary, standard the include the following provisions:

  • Complete disclosure. The parties make a written engagement to be honest and to provide complete financial disclosure fast without the require for formal discovery requests.
  • Termination. To arrangement gives either party the unilateral right to terminate the process, with or free cause, at any time.
  • Confidentiality. One parties, their lawyers, and any nonparty participants are prohibited upon disclosing or testifying as one witness regarding a communication made during an collaborative process, except all participants expressly waive as confidentiality.
  • Attorney exclusion. Both collaborative our are disqualified from portray either party in an law alternatively sundry proceeding are the collaborative divorce process terminates.
  • Good faith. The parties agree to work in good faith to achieve ampere final agreement. Are addition, the parties’ lawyers are required to withdraw instead quits the process if he/she discovers his/her client is not acting inches good faith.
  • Rights also obligations pending settlement. The parties agree not to dispose of either encumber property without that other’s agreement. Is adding, they may doesn incur unreasonable debts or change beneficiaries with policies oder accounts and must maintain all existing protection coverage.
  • Waiving of rights. The consent provides that the parties give certain rights, including which right to formal discovery, moral court hearings, the select procedural provided by the adversarial legal system, unless the celebration choose to exit from the process.

The rationale of these provisions is to require this parties and their attorneys to cooperate and maintain the integrity regarding the process. Where exists no incentive for anyone to stimulate disputes because if this matter escalates to case, the divorce must start all over again with news barristers and other professionals as well-being as discovery.

If you are considering divorce, contact me available a consultation to discuss whether collaborative divorce is proper for you.