Lowering the Cost of Divorce

One of the main concerns about getting a divorce is the cost, and one of the best reasons to choose a collaborative divorce is that it can save you money.   Reliable statistics on the cost of an average divorce are hard to come by, but the general consensus is that a litigated divorce costs between $25,000 -$30,000, and much more if you go to trial.  

Litigation does not mean that you are necessarily fighting or going to trial, but it does mean that you are hiring a lawyer to negotiate your divorce on your behalf. However, this can still be very costly.

The reason collaborative divorce often saves money is due to the structure of the process. The collaborative divorce involves an interdisciplinary team which consist of a therapist trained in the collaborative mode, called a Mental Health Professional, a Financial Neutral, or  financial planner, that looks at your joint finances, and a lawyer for each party that is trained in the collaborative divorce approach. Having both parties and the collaborative team meet altogether helps to more quickly resolve issues and make joint decisions faster.  This cuts down on costs, and any court expenses a litigated divorce would incur.   In collaborative divorces the parties do not go to court, but work to create their own settlement.  

Another advantage of collaborative divorce is that both parties meet individually with the therapist and the financial planner to work out a financial plan and a parenting plan for the settlement.  Working on these plans with the team neutrals to resolve these issues is much cost effective than meeting with the  lawyers for  the same billable hours.  When decisions can be made in the off- line meetings with neutrals, and then brought to the joint collaborative meetings for discussion, valuable time can be saved.     

In addition, you can  choose to include a clause in your collaborative divorce agreement that states you will go to Mediation-Arbitration if parties become unable to make necessary decisions after 5-6 meetings.  This will prevent the divorce process from having an unending time frame, and prevent parties from going to court.  Divorce proceedings that extend for long periods of time are very costly and emotionally disruptive as well.