Many people in Pennsylvania would agree that divorce can be especially difficult for the children involved. Many parents that have decided to get divorced hope to spare their children a messy break up. Collaborative law may be able to help parents do that.
Collaborative divorce uses a team approach to untangling the lives of a couple. Once a couple’s main issues are identified, professional such as financial advisers and counselors are brought in to help the couple negotiate a divorce settlement. Financial advisers can help with the division of assets while counselors can help the couple put aside their ill feelings for each other in order to foster at least a working relationship between the parties both during the divorce process and after the divorce.
A specialist may also be brought in to help the children through the process. Many children feel they have done something wrong or are somehow at fault for the divorce. A counselor may be able to help the children work through their feelings and help parents reassure them that they are not somehow responsible for the breakdown of the marriage. These counselors may also be able to give parents the tools they will need post-divorce when dealing with each other since they won’t stop being parents just because they are no longer married.
As the use of collaborative law increases in Pennsylvania, the days of contentious and adversarial divorce court battles could dwindle. Most couples have no desire to drag each other through court and really just want to be able to move on with their lives as quickly and painlessly as possible. As parents, the parties may also want to be sure they have done all they can to minimize the impact of the divorce on their kids.
Source: starnewsonline.com, “Group works to ease process of ending a marriage,” Justin Williams Pope, May 21, 2013
