Getting divorced in Pennsylvania can be challenging from both an emotional and a financial viewpoint, but sometimes it is simply inevitable. Divorce can be especially difficult if the two spouses have trouble finding common ground when it comes to matters such as property division. Fortunately, collaborative divorce offers a more efficient and private path to dissolving a marriage.
Collaborative divorce is a structured process that allows a family to go through divorce without necessarily having to go to court. During this type of family law proceeding, each party has his or her own attorney advocating for him or her. The focus is to achieve the wants and needs of the entire family while protecting everyone’s best interests.
In addition to having lawyers on their team, the couple getting divorced can also include a mental health professional and a financial professional. Both of these parties are neutral. The role of the team of professionals is to provide helpful industry-related information so that the divorcing spouses can more easily make some hard decisions.
The benefit of the collaborative divorce process in Pennsylvania is that it provides a family with the necessary time and space for processing their grief and anger and for moving forward to a hopeful future, even if the future may look different. In addition, the divorcing couple may be able to move through the divorce process more quickly, thus making the process of property division and deciding about alimony, for example, less costly and stressful in the long run. An attorney can provide guidance with every step of this type of family law proceeding.
Source: orlandosentinel.com, “Collaborative divorce: Tom Behan helped couples make peace, not war“, Elaine T. Silver, June 26, 2017