FAQs
Is Collaborative Law suitable in my situation
Our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are curated to address the most prevalent enquiries.
What is Collaborative Law?
Under the collaborative process, each person appoints their own collaboratively trained lawyer and you and your respective lawyers all meet together to work things out face to face. Both of you will have your lawyer by your side throughout the process and so you will have their support and legal advice as you go.
You will also have the opportunity to work with an independent financial adviser, a family consultant, a child specialist or an accountant, who will provide you with specialist help regarding financial matters and those concerning children, parenting, communication and emotional support if and when you need it. All these professionals will collectively make up your collaborative team.
You and your team sign an agreement that commits you to trying to resolve the issues without going to court and prevents your team from representing you in court if the collaborative process breaks down. This means that everyone is absolutely committed to finding the best solutions by agreement, rather than through court proceedings.
How does Collaborative Law work?
Your lawyer and your partner’s lawyer will speak to each other either face to face or over the phone in order to plan for your first meeting.
If you’ve chosen to include other professionals such as a family consultant or financial adviser in your team, you might also meet with them. The team will speak to each other to plan the most helpful way forward for you and your partner. Collaborative Law works by holding a series of private four-way meetings between yourself, your partner or spouse and both of your Collaboratively trained solicitors.
What happens at the first four way meeting?
At the beginning of the first meeting, each party must sign a Participation Agreement confirming that they are committed to resolving all the issues that are disputed without involvement of the court (except to approve and formalise any agreements made). This helps create an environment where the objectives of each party are aligned. This can be particularly helpful where there is a need to reconcile sensitive issues and can provide both parties with the reassurance that both are working to achieve a common goal.
In these four-way meetings, all parties will discuss the issues at hand and how best to resolve them. Another benefit of this process is that it can often be faster, held at more convenient times and can considerably reduce costs in comparison to the court process. Furthermore, if the issue being discussed requires the input of an expert, say an accountant or an IFA, then one expert to advise both the parties can potentially also participate in the meetings to make sure that the advice given is as balanced and transparent as possible.
The first four way meeting:
The lawyers will make sure that you both understand you are making a commitment to working out an agreement without going to court. You will all sign an agreement to this effect.
You and your partner will be invited to share your own objectives in choosing this process and you will all plan the agenda for the next meeting. This will depend on your own individual circumstances but might typically include a discussion about how the children are responding to the separation.
If time permits you may also go on to discuss how financial information will be shared and agree on who will bring what financial information to the next meeting.
Why will we need more than one meeting?
What happens when we’ve reached an agreement?
How long does it all take?
Sometimes only a couple of meetings are needed, in other cases four or five. Once an agreement is reached, your lawyers will put it into effect, obtaining a court order where needed.
Is Collaborative Law suitable in my situation?
Collaborative Law is suited to most family or relationship issues. You and your partner/spouse control the timetable for meetings, the venue and those involved. Working with a fifth neutral/other professionals, such as a financial adviser or a family consultant, means you have a dedicated team to provide you with the best possible information, advice and support, and doing so in a way that helps keep misunderstanding and disputes to a minimum.
Here are just some of the issues that can be resolved using Collaborative Law:-
- Pre-nuptial agreements;
- Post-nuptial agreements;
- Cohabitation agreements;
- Financial disputes;
- Breakdown of civil partnerships or marriages;
- Property disputes; and
- Agreements regarding arrangements for children.
There are, however, situations where Collaborative Law is not suitable and your chosen lawyer will discuss this with you at your first meeting.
How is Collaborative Law different from mediation?
Mediation is a meeting where an impartial individual assists the parties to reach an agreement. In contrast, the Collaborative process offers each side the opportunity to have their own specially trained Collaborative solicitor attend the meeting with them to offer advice and guidance. During a Collaborative meeting, each party can identify the issues at hand, agree or negotiate ways to resolve those issues, and offer complete transparency between all the parties.
What happens if we cannot agree?
Unfortunately, the Collaborative approach is not always successful. In such circumstances the Collaborative representatives instructed cannot continue to act for either of you should you or your partner/spouse wish to pursue any disputed issue through the court. In these circumstances, you would both have to instruct new solicitors to resolve the remaining issues during the court process.
Why haven’t I heard about Collaborative Law?
Although the process is not new, not every family lawyer has the specialist training required to conduct the process. Collaborative Law is now firmly established as one of the preferred options for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within the English family legal justice system.
Many people who have used the Collaborative Law process have expressed higher levels of satisfaction at the end of their case.