Five Benefits of a New Jersey Collaborative Divorce

In recent years, the New Jersey collaborative divorce process has been used with greater frequency by couples seeking to end their marriages. If you are considering a divorce, you are wise to explore the various options available to you, including collaborative divorce. You may be like many people in the Garden State and really not know very much about the collaborative divorce process. Understanding what is meant by collaborative divorce and the fire primary benefits of that process aids in making preliminary decisions about how you would like to proceed with your divorce case.

The five more significant benefits associated with a New Jersey collaborative divorce are:

• Reduces stress and potential animosity between the parties
• Allows greater control over the marriage dissolution decision making process
• Reduces the costs associated with ending a marriage
• Permits better control over the pace of a New Jersey marriage dissolution case
• Adds a greater level of privacy to divorce

Collaborative divorce in New Jersey is defined as a method by which a couple seeking to divorce are able to come to a consensus and agreement on issues they face in their marriage dissolution case. The parties are able to come to a consensus and agreement via the assistance of legal counsel with specific training in New Jersey collaborative divorce practice.

As a side note if a couple attempting to pursue a collaborative divorce do not reach a consensus, they do then need to proceed with a more traditional marriage dissolution process. Attorneys involved with the collaborative divorce are not able to represent the spouses in that more traditional divorce process. The inability of counsel to represent clients if a collaborative divorce process doesn’t come to fruition provides an incentive for a best effort to be made to resolve issues collaboratively.

Divorce proceedings necessarily are stressful, even in cases with parties considered to have reasonable lines of communication lower levels of animosity. A primary benefit of pursuing a collaborative marriage dissolution is found in the fact that the process nearly always does work to lessen the stress level of parties to a case. The lower the stress and tension level, the more apt a party to a divorce will be to make rational and though out decisions during the course of the proceedings.

A collaborative divorce in New Jersey provides the parties to a divorce greater control over the marriage dissolution process. The reality is that a divorce case is like any other civil lawsuit in the sense that if it ends up in a trial, the decision making ends up in the hands of someone else. Rather than have the resolution of issues in a marriage dissolution decided exclusively by a judge, a collaborative divorce leaves decision making more significantly in the hands of the divorcing couple.

A collaborative divorce typically reduces the expenses associated with a New Jersey divorce. While there are attorneys involved in the collaborative process, by avoiding a trial and some other court proceedings that oftentimes accompany a divorce, the costs associated with a marriage dissolution case can be reduced.

New Jersey courts maintain very full schedules. In fact, prior to the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, courts had very fully dockets. Since the advent of the pandemic, court schedules have become even more challenging. Through a collaborative marriage dissolution, you will be able to reach a conclusion of your divorce case more quickly than if you rely solely on the resources of the judicial system. You and your spouse will have more control over the pace and timing of your case.

Finally, a benefit of a collaborative divorce is found in the possibility for additional privacy. Rather that air issues associated with your marriage in open court, matters which you would prefer keeping as confidential as possible can be worked out in a private setting through the collaborative process.

If you have questions about a divorce, including about the collaborative process, the legal team from the Law Offices of Peter Van Aulen at at 201-845-7400 is here for you.