Working Through a Collaborative Divorce? Get Creative!

For many couples, collaborative divorce is an attractive alternative to divorcing through litigation. With a collaborative divorce, the couple works together – each with their own individual lawyer – to draft the divorce settlement that best fits their needs. This means they can go outside the guidelines for property division, alimony, and parenting plans imposed by Florida law to create an arrangement that truly suits their unique needs and family dynamics. If you are considering a collaborative divorce for this reason, though, it is always in your best interest to discuss the law’s divorce guidelines with an experienced lawyer to understand why they exist and how you can avoid creating a divorce settlement that goes against your interests.

 

Tell your Spouse What you Really Want

 

Under Florida law, a divorcing couple’s marital assets are divided according to the doctrine of equitable distribution. This means they are not necessarily divided equally, but according to each partner’s personal needs.

 

With a collaborative divorce, you and your spouse decide how you want to divide your marital assets. If you really want a specific asset, like ownership of your vacation property, use this opportunity to voice your preference and what you are willing to “give up” in order to achieve your divorce goal. You can even come up with creative ways to split your assets, like sharing the vacation property with a timeshare-like agreement.

 

Create a Custom Parenting Plan for your Children

 

When the court develops a parenting plan, it follows the guidelines set in Florida law to develop the plan that best serves the child’s personal needs. Creating a plan that is in your child’s best interest is always something you should strive to do.

 

But when you are in charge of your parenting plan, rather than the court, you have more flexibility and control to create the plan that works best for your family. In many cases, this is easiest when you have help from a child custody evaluator. The parenting plan you develop might deviate a lot from the “typical” shared parenting plan like the child spending the bulk of his or her time with one parent and every other weekend with the other parent. Yours might involve split weeks or even a modern take on coparenting like a birdnesting arrangement. With a collaborative divorce, you craft the parenting plan that suits your family’s needs.

 

Find Ways to Create a Settlement that Makes you Both Happy

 

Maybe you would rather take a larger share of your marital savings than seek alimony. Or maybe you want to liquidate as much of your marital assets as possible and use the funds to start fresh on the next chapter of your life. These types of arrangement are possible with collaborative divorce. The only limit to your ideal, self-directed settlement is your spouse’s willingness to work cooperatively with you to reach it.

 

Work with an Experienced Winter Park Divorce Attorney

 

If you are considering a collaborative divorce, work with a Winter Park divorce lawyer who has extensive experience handling this type of divorce. Contact our team at Sperling Ducker PLC today to set up your initial legal consultation with a member of our team.

 

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.075.html