When many parties are going through a divorce, they decide to enter into negotiations with their spouse by themselves. They may engage in in-person negotiations. They may exchange emails, texts or letters where they negotiate terms.

For many parties, it can seem like direct negotiations with their spouse can make sense. After all, they are saving money in legal fees. They are doing the best that they can to keep their case from being litigated.

At the same time, what can be difficult for many is knowing what is fair and what isn’t fair. In some marriages, there can also be an apparent power imbalance in the marriage. It might be as well that one spouse is much more sophisticated about the finances than the other spouse.

This is why having a collaborative divorce lawyer with you to negotiate can be comforting for many parties. In collaborative divorce, parties meet with their spouse outside of court to try to negotiate a settlement. But at the same time, they are not meeting their spouse alone.

Instead, they have their collaborative divorce lawyer with them. By having a collaborative divorce lawyer with them, the concerns about potential power imbalances and lack of sophistication can be minimized. The collaborative lawyers can help ensure that everybody is on an equal negotiating plane.

Collaborative divorce lawyers also have every incentive to get the case settled. If they do not, for example, they cannot participate in litigation. The parties would instead need to get litigation counsel if the case could not be settled.

Apart from all of this, when parties are divorcing, there can be a wide-range of emotions that the parties are experiencing. There can also be areas of dispute between the parties that led to the divorce. There might be arguments that are taking place. Having a collaborative divorce lawyer there to make sure the negotiations stay on track can be enormously helpful and comforting.