During your marriage, you may have accumulated a significant amount of assets. You may have purchased an apartment or condominium, built up your retirement plan and purchased numerous personal belongings of value. Now that you face a divorce, you may wonder what will happen to them.
The thought of leaving your fate in the hands of a New York judge who doesn’t know you or your family may not provide you with any confidence. You know you could probably end up in a court battle, but that would just cost you more in time and money, which could further jeopardize your future.
Perhaps you could benefit from collaborative divorce
After a lengthy court divorce, no one comes out a winner. Collaborative divorce could change that. You and your future ex-spouse retain control over your final settlement. You can bring in third parties to help you value your assets, figure out what you will need to live after the divorce and figure out custody arrangements, if you have children.
You can come up with solutions that have a higher chance of working than those a court may provide. You can look at solutions that the court may not even be able to consider. For instance, you could trade assets and come up with creative custody arrangements that take your children, you and the other parent into consideration.
Of course, you and the other party will need to agree to go through the process. This means having a willingness to cooperate, compromise and negotiate in good faith. If conflicts arise, you will need to come up with a way to move past them. If you can’t get back down to business, you will need to find new counsel and start over from scratch.
The process requires commitment
In fact, it requires a contract. You, your future ex and each of your attorneys must all agree in writing to go through the process. You each agree to act in good faith, be fair and transparent. Other than any third parties you bring in to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions, the four of you are the only ones involved in the negotiations.
Each party receives the chance to listen and talk. Any negative emotions are removed from the process in order to facilitate fruitful negotiations. Sometimes, each party just needs to say his or her peace in order to move forward.