Bev Churchill, KC

 

The Collaborative Divorce/Separation Process is a settlement approach for resolving areas in dispute in a divorce or separation (or wills and estates, employer/employee, etc.).  In the family law context, spouses who use the Collaborative Process are in charge of their negotiations and the way in which their dispute will be resolved.   Each spouse retains a Collaboratively trained lawyer and, together, will build a Collaborative “team” to work towards the resolution of the issues in their divorce and/or separation.

The most obvious members or the “team” are the spouses and the Collaboratively lawyers, but they there may be other members of their team to support the team. These members are chosen depending on the circumstances, complexity and needs of the team member or members. The intention of having multiple team members, also known as the “multidisciplinary” or “interdisciplinary” team, is to simplify the complexity and to assist in streamlining the path towards resolution.

Each member of the team will sign a Participation Agreement* which governs the team.  One of the central terms of the Participation Agreement is that no member of the team can use the Court system (unless it is agreed by the team members, such as applying to obtain a divorce).  Progress is made in the Collaborative Process through informal meetings involving the Collaborative lawyers, the spouses, and other members selected for the team. These include, the Collaborative Coach, a Financial Specialist and a Child Specialist.

The Professional Team

The Collaborative Lawyers –

The Collaborative Lawyer is a lawyer who has focused their legal practice in family law. They have specialized training who is committed to working jointly, cooperatively and outside of the Court system with their client and the other Collaboratively trained lawyer and their spouse. The Collaboratively trained lawyers understand that arriving at a long term durable Agreement that will suit the needs of both spouses and their family requires active participation, discussion and input from both spouses. Each spouse’s input, perspective and contribution is critical to the end result and their concerns need to be listened to, heard and considered by all members of the team.

Every client and every family is unique and that uniqueness needs to be understood, respected and preserved.  For this to be accomplished, the Collaborative Lawyer needs to listen and hear what is important to not only their client, but also to their client’s spouse.

 

The Collaborative Coach (Divorce Coach or Communication Specialist)-

The Collaborative Divorce Coach may be a Registered Psychologist, Registered Clinical Counselor, Canadian Clinical Counselor, Master of Social Work/Registered Social Worker or Licensed Marriage Family Therapist.   Each Collaborative Coach has taken or committed to taking Collaborative and mediation training.  The Collaborative Coach meets with one or both spouses (as determined by the spouses themselves or in conjunction with their Collaborative Lawyers) .  The Collaborative Coach assists the Collaborative Lawyers and the spouses to manage and appropriately address the emotional levels and needs of the participants involved in the Collaborative Process. However, in this context the Collaborative Coach is not a Counselor nor Therapist.

Let me put this in perspective. In a family law matter we expect there to be a legal component (the issues we need to consider to achieve a resolution).  We also expect a family law matter to involve a process component (the way in which we address the issues that needs that need to be considered to achieve a resolution).  What most do not expect or is often ignored or given little attention, is the emotional component (how one feels and how those feelings affects the path toward to achieving a resolution).

The Collaborative Coach is trained and experienced to identify the source of the emotional component and in doing so assists the team to address the issue(s) to support the path to resolution.

 

The Financial Specialist-

The Financial Specialist is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator (or both), or Certified Financial Planner.   In the Collaborative Process, the Collaborative Lawyers and the spouses jointly decide when to retain the Financial Specialist to assist in making decisions and to understand strategies to maximize the retention of assets and income for both spouses and their family.

 

* Participaction Agreements:

Lawyers Participaction-Agreement >

BCCRS-Approved-Precedent-Coaches-PA-One-Coach-Model >

BCCRS-Approved-Precedent-Coaches-PA-Two-Coach-Model >

Child_Specialist_Particpation_Agreement >

Financial_Specialist_Particpation_Agreement >