Taxation & Estate Planning

Collaborative Divorce

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

Collaborative divorce entered my consciousness in a big way recently. First (SPOILER), it comes up in the film Juno. (Minor quibble: In Juno, the husband says something to the effect of "I spoke with our lawyer and she said she can represent both of us in a collaborative divorce." I wouldn't recommend that.) Then there's this AP article.

The idea of collaborative divorce is that there are better ways to end a marriage than trying to destroy each other through a nasty divorce proceeding. As the article puts it, "collaborative divorce involves the use of attorneys for each party, often joined by other expert consultants. But the lawyers, instead of sparring, pledge from the outset to work together in crafting an outcome that is fair to all."

Here is a nice Q&A about collaborative divorce in Illinois from a firm in Woodstock.

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on December 20, 2007 (boomark / email).