Collaborative Family Law is an innovative way of helping families get through the divorce process (or other family-law issue) with maximum efficiency and minimum damage to important relationships. The Collaborative Family Law process is based on three principles:

• No Court - Everyone involved agrees that they will not take any contested issue to court. The husband and wife ("the parties") engage attorneys and allied professionals trained in the Collaborative Family Law model, who also agree that they will not go to court.



• Transparent Process - The parties and both of their attorneys agree that they will be truthful and forthcoming with information, and that they will freely share all information that is requested by anyone involved in their divorce. They also agree that if they need information from experts, the experts will be chosen by agreement, and will give them information in a neutral manner, so that their opinions are not intended to help one person and hurt the other.



• Agreements Based on Satisfying Parties' Interests - The group agrees that their decisions will be based on what is most important to the parties. The parties might make an agreement that is similar to a result they would get from a judge, but there is an equally good chance that they would agree to something very different from what a Court might order.