Collaborative Family Law COVID 19 Update

Collaborative Family Law COVID 19 Update. Need to turn the page on your marriage-breakdown without leaving home? There are several alternatives that our top-rated BC and Calgary family lawyers can explore with you during these challenging family law times. All 6 of our offices in Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Kelowna, and Fort St John in BC and Calgary, Alberta. Tal Wolf, of our Vancouver office, is pleased to provide this Collaborative Family Law COVID 19 Update if you are separating and what a low conflict approach to resolve matters for you and your children.

COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE LAWYERS DURING COVID-19 1 877 602 9900

While courts are largely closed except for the most urgent types of matters, we’ve gotten a lot of inquiries about collaborative divorce, and whether it might be an attractive option to people who are thinking that they need to get their separation moving even during this COVID-19 pandemic. As you already are aware, all 6 MacLean Law offices are open and operating remotely, except for our emergency family law response teams at each office under public health mandates. Under this new regime, below are some of the reasons why a collaborative divorce could be just right for you as we continue to socially distance and quarantine during these uncertain times. We will be waiting for your call to get things started. Click here to book an appointment.

AVOID COURT AND LOWER COSTS DIVORCE TEAM

Collaborative Family Law COVID 19 Update strategies include:

1. In-person meetings are not required. The vast majority (and in many situations the entirety) of the collaborative process is performed via telephone and electronically, including e-mail. In-person involvement is generally no more than a small handful of people in any event, which can easily be accomplished using Skype, Zoom or other videoconferencing software.

2. Resolving issues and conflicts is done in a solution-focused way. We don’t worry so much about who is right or wrong, or who is the more truthful. The issues can be managed without a “winner” and “loser”, including for example, who spouse will continue to reside in the family home, parenting time and exchange protocols for the children, administration of the monthly bills, financial support for the children and lower wage earner, and preliminary division of household assets.

3. We will use a team of specialists. One of the main features of collaborative law is that parties have the option of retaining experts to assist with technical, complex, or sensitive aspects of the case. The good news during this crisis is that almost all of the professionals to whom we would point you for consultation or joint participation are going to be available on a virtual or remote-access basis. These experts become part of the overall group with the singular goal of resolving matters in the most efficient light, and they often have lower billing rates than the lawyers. This could include, for example, a couples-counselor specializing in relationships post-separation, a child psychologist, a company valuator, a financial planner, and an accountant, etc.

4. The collaborative family law process can be significantly cheaper. One of the most important factors governing your overall legal costs will be the number of contested court applications and other hearings, including trial, that may end up being necessary. Even minor disputes can cost many thousands of dollars, as lawyers need to prepare to argue your side of the case over a long day at the courthouse. By definition, the collaborative process bypasses most or all of these efficiency bottlenecks.

5. Collaborative divorce allows for more creative solutions. Because you and your spouse are not dependent on a judge for decisions, you would have the liberty to look at all kinds of different ways to bridge the disputes presented. This includes solutions that don’t necessarily conform to the rules of the Family Law Act by which the court would be bound, the flexibility that could go along way when circumstances are unique or changing such as employment, relocation, a volatile stock market or medical hardship. Only your family knows what’s truly best for “your family”, and the collaborative team will make sure that both sides are on a level playing field.

6. You control the timeline. People who use collaborative divorce are not beholden to judges or court rules to establish the timeframe for the process as a whole, or deadlines for filings, disclosures, exchange of documents and other submissions. The process can move as slowly, or quickly as your family desires.