Are you afraid that you might not know about all of the assets and income that your spouse holds? Are you concerned that you or your spouse might hold an asset that is not easy to value? Are you frightened that you might be forced to reach a divorce settlement without fully understanding its consequences? Are you worried that, in the future after your divorce, you may run out of resources to meet your financial needs?
These are fears that many, many of our clients share in common before they have their initial consultation with our attorneys. During that initial consultation, however, our clients learn that a collaborative divorce is designed in a manner that helps ease all of these concerns through a process that is guided and facilitated by a specially-trained team of collaborative professionals. Within the safe container of the collaborative process, (1) assets and income streams are transparently disclosed and documented; (2) information about the value of all assets is developed; and (3) no settlement is reached unless and until each spouse can feel comfortable that she/he fully appreciates and understands its consequences. In this manner, the parties can mutually embrace the settlement as one that is acceptable to both of them.
Before such a settlement is reached, the clients in a collaborative process are presented with the opportunity to project their future operating budgets and explore to what extent their resources will allow them to meet their budgets. The knowledge about what it will take to have one’s needs met, as well as the peace of mind that can ensue as a result of that knowledge, is invaluable.
BRIAN URBAN & BRIDGETTE POZZUTO
Cleveland’s Collaborative Divorce Attorneys
