How we help couples and families through the process of divorce has come a long way during the 15 years that I have been practicing divorce law in Palm Beach County.
Traditional Divorce Litigation (Fighting):
Your attorney should:
- Pay attention to the “consequential facts” in your case.
- These are the facts that the law and the judge deem to be the most important to decide the “winner” in your divorce.
- Use the law and the evidence and the “consequential facts” to “win” your divorce in court.
- Expect for your husband or wife to hire their own attorney and go through this same exercise to build a case against you.
- Your attorney may acknowledge those “other facts and concerns” that are most important to you. However, these “other facts and concerns” are not important to the judge and they are not important to determine whom the winner is. Therefore, your attorney should not spend too much time on these “other facts and concerns”.
Divorce Planning (Collaborative Divorce):
After law school, I quickly learned that my clients were focused on those “other facts and concerns”. These facts, questions, goals and concerns are what makes their family unique.
These facts and concerns and goals are really the interests of you and your family.
- How can I avoid fighting in court?
- How can I avoid causing emotional harm to my family?
- What should we do with our home and retirement accounts?
- What school will our children attend after the divorce?
- How can I avoid wasting time and money in my divorce?
- How can I make a plan for our entire family to move forward in a healthy way after this divorce is over?
The Collaborative Divorce Process removes the judge from the equation.
This allows us to focus on the facts, goals, and concerns that are most important to you in your divorce.
- Collaborative divorce provides the structure and resources of a whole community of like-minded professionals that help couples and families by focusing on their “other facts and concerns”.
- In collaborative divorce, we often ask: “Would you like to be able to sit together at your daughter’s graduation/wedding after this divorce is over? Have you thought about how you may celebrate the birth of your grandchildren as a family after this divorce is over?”.
- You are in control of your collaborative divorce.
- You are not stuck in a rigid court system that ignores what is most important to you and your family.
If you, or a friend of yours, has questions about collaborative divorce in Palm Beach County, we are here to help.
Chad Layton, Esq.
(561) 537-8227
Office Located At:
205 Worth Ave.
Suite 303
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Phone (561) 537-8227
Office E-Mail: Chad@mindfuldivorcepa.com
Office Website: https://www.mindfuldivorcepa.com
