The collaborative divorce team is comprised of the divorcing parties, two family law attorneys who are trained in collaborative law, one neutral mental health professional (MHP) who is trained in collaborative divorce and one neutral financial professional who is trained in collaborative divorce.

Let’s answer the first question right off: how does a divorcing couple pay for all of these professionals?

In fact, there are fewer people involved in a collaborative divorce than in a traditional, litigated divorce. In a traditional divorce, one attorney prepares a petition to be filed with the court. The attorney submits the petition to a (1) court clerk who enters is into the (2) Judge’s docket. The attorney sends a copy of the petition via a (3) process server to the respondent. When there is a hearing, there will be a (4) bailiff and a (5) court reporter. If there are depositions, there will be (6) expert witness(es) and more court reporter(s). Since many divorces include one or two financial professionals anyway, the collaborative process adds a mental health professional in lieu of at least six people who are eliminated from the process.