collaborative divorce

As couples with teenage children are considering divorce, one of the things to think about is the timing of the divorce. We have always considered the timing of divorce as this impacts the parties’ ability to file a joint income tax return. However, I had never considered how this might impact their children’s ability to get financial aid. I recently came across a post from Robert Bordett, a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst in Georgia, in which he shares some information he learned about the timing of divorce and its impact on financial aid. https://familyaffaires.com/co-parenting-work-together-divorce/. A collaborative divorce process allows the family to consider all factors associated with their divorce, including the timing. As Mr. Bordett explains, the timing of the divorce…

CNBC recently featured an article on collaborative law being applied in divorce cases. As the author, Deborah Nason, states, “Divorce will never be a walk in the park, but it doesn’t have to be a traumatic process, either.” She addresses the major problems that can be created by litigating a divorce to conclusion in Court. For a lot of people, the cost of a divorce is a major factor. According to the article, litigating a divorce can cost as much as three times or more than a collaborative divorce. As we have discussed in this blog before, Collaborative Divorce is a process that involves each party having their own lawyer. The agreement includes a clause in each party’s contract with the lawyer that if the…

Parnell, Michels & McKay has long championed the role of collaborative law in the divorce setting, and we offer one of the best and most experienced collaborative law divorce attorneys in the State of New Hampshire in Catherine McKay. However, the gains made in collaborative law in the family arena are being noticed by other attorneys who practice in the civil areas. Employment disputes, business disputes, probate disputes, and other areas of civil practice seem like potential great areas for collaborative law to continue to develop. Parnell, Michels & McKay supports the New Hampshire Collaborative Divorce (NHCD), and through that great organization, we have been introduced to potential new areas of law where collaborative practice can be utilized. In fact, the New Hampshire Bar Association…

In family law, litigation can have very negative effects on familial relationships. In a divorce, it causes parties to become entrenched in their positions, and they end up spending thousands upon thousands of dollars fighting in Court. Often, we have family law clients in divorce cases that don’t want to ratchet up the emotions by pursuing litigation and ask about alternative options that do not involve going to Court. The best option available is Collaborative Divorce. It is a process that removes a lot of the stress, time, and money spent on litigation. Instead, parties go through a series of meetings until the process is concluded with a final agreement. The first step is agreeing to do collaborative law in the first place. At Parnell,…