It's often said that January is the busiest month for divorce lawyers, the pressure of Christmas (and holidays) can force relationships that are already "rocky" past breaking point; add in the desire to make a fresh start for the New Year, and you can see why up to one in five couples enquire about divorce.
Traditionally, divorce is seen as an adversarial process with couples doing battle in court; however, as family lawyer Dave Winnett, from Hopkins Solicitors in Nottingham, stresses, there is another way. He says, "As was pointed out recently in the Mail on Sunday's You magazine, under the traditional system, couples instruct separate lawyers and then meet up in court to thrash out matters such as finance and their children's arrangements, whereas with Collaborative Law, even though each person still has their own lawyer, instead of negotiations being conducted through letter and ultimately in court, you work things out face to face. This leads to better relations between ex-partners and is also better for any children caught up in the process.
"He adds, "Collaborative Law is generally much quicker than going to court; contested cases about money typically take 18 months plus, whereas with Collaborative Law, it's often dealt with in 6 to 10 months, which also makes the process less expensive for the parties involved. "
For more information about collaborative law, please contact Dave Winnett at Hopkins Solicitors on 0115 910 5555.
