In a Collaborative Divorce do you receive independent legal advice?

Like the guys on the Myth Buster TV show (remember that one?), this article is aimed to dispel a myth about collaborative divorce.

Many people have ideas about what a collaborative divorce is. Sometimes they are accurate and other times they are very inaccurate.

Part of the mission of Divorce Well Knoxville is to educate everyone on variety of ways they can get divorced as alternatives to litigation. You can’t make an informed decision unless you have accurate information.

A few members of Divorce Well Knoxville came across a Reddit thread where the question was:

“I'm in the early stages of preparing for a divorce, and I've been given advice to look into going the route of a collaborative divorce or mediation. I'm new to all this, and was hoping I could ask about anyone's experiences with collaborative divorce in Knoxville. Thanks all”

Great question!

One person answered:

“collaborative divorce is a terrible concept; you and your spouse viewpoints are inherently opposed and a single person can't actually advise both of you without it being a huge cluster. I have no idea why there's such a push for collaborative divorce. you both need to know what your spectrum of potential outcomes are to be able to rationally decide what a fair compromise is. the way you learn that is by receiving independent legal advice.”

This person believes that a collaborative divorce involves only one attorney and both spouses receive legal advice from the one attorney.

Time to bust some myths!

The first myth to clear up is that an attorney can legally advise two people.

An attorney can only represent one person and provide legal advice to one person regardless of the type of divorce they are going through. Professional ethics and rules prohibit attorneys from representing clients with conflicting interests - which divorcing spouses have conflicting interests.

People sometimes work with only one attorney, but that attorney represents and communicates with only one spouse. The attorney can help outline the issues that need to be resolved and give advice to their client. Then it’s up to the spouses to sit down together and come up with agreements. Or the spouses hire and work with a mediator to help them reach agreements.

The agreements are then taken to the attorney to draft and file the required legal paperwork for a divorce. The unrepresented spouse has to sign these papers, too. (They can always choose to have an independent attorney review the agreement once it is typed up.)

The second myth to clear up is that there is only one attorney in a collaborative divorce.

If you choose the collaborative process, then both spouses have attorneys - attorneys who are trained in this collaborative process. At a minimum, the team members in a collaborative divorce are two attorneys.

While there is much more open communication between the attorneys, spouses, and any other professionals involved on the team, each spouse has access to independent legal advice. The attorneys are going to be looking for solutions and working together to keep things moving forward towards resolution, but also advising their individual clients. There is more transparency and communication all around about what the legal issues are and potential ways to resolve them.

And, in a collaborative divorce, the clients are truly the ones in the drivers’ seats making decisions. The attorneys are there to provide legal information and make sure all agreements follow the law, but the decision-making power is in the spouses hands. After all, this is your life. You can get very creative with your agreements in a collaborative divorce.

If you have questions about a collaborative divorce, or any divorce option, I encourage you to contact us and schedule a consultation.

People on Reddit, FB, Twitter and other sources may or may not have accurate information. In addition, people may want to talk about their own experience or experiences of others they know. Every divorce is unique and you are in the driver’s seat of the experience, not anyone else.