The collaborative divorce process is a structured way of negotiating a divorce settlement outside of court, in which each spouse keeps their own attorney and both sides sign a written participation agreement committing to negotiate honestly, disclose financial information fully, and not go to court. The defining feature of the process is that if either spouse abandons it to litigate instead, both collaborative attorneys must withdraw from the case, which gives everyone a strong practical incentive to stay at the table and reach an agreement.
Retaining collaboratively trained counsel
Each spouse hires their own attorney who has training in the collaborative process specifically, since it relies on a different set of skills than adversarial litigation. These attorneys still advise and advocate for their own client, but within a framework built around joint problem-solving rather than positioning for a courtroom fight.
The participation agreement
At the outset, both spouses and both attorneys sign a participation agreement. This document commits everyone to negotiate in good faith, disclose financial and other relevant information openly, and avoid filing contested motions or going to trial while the collaborative process is underway.
The disqualification provision
The agreement's most consequential term is the disqualification, or withdrawal, provision. If either spouse decides to abandon the collaborative process and litigate instead, both collaborative attorneys are required to withdraw from representing their clients, and each spouse must then hire new counsel to go to court. This creates a real cost to walking away from the table, which is part of why the process tends to keep both sides engaged in negotiation.
Bringing in neutral specialists
Many collaborative cases bring in neutral professionals as needed, such as a financial specialist to help value or divide assets or a child specialist to help address parenting issues. These professionals work for both spouses jointly rather than being aligned with either side, which is intended to keep the information and analysis shared rather than contested.
How it ends
When the spouses reach agreement, the result is typically a comprehensive written settlement covering property division, support, and any custody and parenting issues, which is then submitted to the family court, often without requiring the spouses to appear in a contested hearing. Whether collaborative divorce fits a particular situation, and how to structure the participation agreement, are questions a licensed family law attorney trained in the collaborative process can address directly.