On April 24, 2016, Governor Rick Scott signed into law SB 972/HB 967, the Collaborative Law Process Act, (Collarborative Divorce) which allows divorce and other family matters to be resolved outside of court.
According to Next Generation Divorce, the Collaborative Process is:
a unique form of dispute resolution where clients and their attorneys agree that all money, time, and energy is spent on helping the parties reach an agreement rather than fighting in court. In fact, the parties sign a contract, the Collaborative Participation Agreement, which states that the attorneys can only be used to reach an out-of-court settlement and cannot be used to fight one another in divorce court battles.
Family matters under chapters 61 or 742 of the Florida Statutes may be resolved through the Collaborative Process. Those include:
- Divorce
- Alimony
- Child Support
- Division of Assets & Liabilities
- Child Custody and Visitation (Parenting Plans and Timesharing)
- Relocation with Children
- Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements
- Paternity Issues
We understand that the divorce process can become extremely adversarial. What initially seems like an amicable divorce can quickly escalate to an intense legal battle. When there are children or a family business involved, matters are even more complicated. Divorce isn’t just legal — it’s financial, emotional, and psychological as well. It can have far-reaching effects on the spouses, the children, the family business, and more. The premise behind the Collaborative Law Process Act is that spouses and parents are in a much better position to resolve disputes and determine what is in their family’s best interests than a judge.
The new law also keeps a family’s divorce issues private by adding a statutory privilege, similar to the attorney-client privilege, that prevents communications and negotiations during the process from ever being used against a spouse in court.
There are lots of professionals involved in the Collaborative Process, but ideally it will save the parties time and money. And everyone involved has a common goal: to resolve the dispute(s) in a way that is mutually beneficial to all parties involved.
A South Florida Business Journal article argued that the Collaborative Process could be very useful for divorcing business owners to handle their divorce while keeping business records private, reducing interruptions to the business by both parties’ forensic accountants, and keeping the divorce private from customers and stakeholders.
How the Collaborative Process Works
The Daily Business Review defines how the Collaborative Process works here:
Each party in the collaborative law process retains the services of a specially trained attorney. In Florida, a neutral mental health professional is retained by the parties to help them get through the emotional aspects of the change in their relationship and to help them with children’s issues. When there are financial issues to resolve, a neutral financial expert is retained as well.
The parties and the professionals meet together to identify issues in dispute and to help the parties resolve their own case. In other words, they control their own destiny. Information and documents are shared between the parties and the professionals, but the process is confidential to outsiders, as opposed to litigation where information can be accessed publicly.
Because the process is voluntary, either party can terminate the collaborative law process at any time. But if the process is terminated, the attorneys are disqualified from representing the parties in contested litigation, and the professionals cannot be deposed or forced to testify in the subsequent litigation.
If you have any question regarding this or any other legal matter our firm may be able to help you. Please contact Jupiter Legal Advocates at (561) 748-8000 or email us at [email protected] for further information and assistance. We try our very best to respond immediately.
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