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When a marriage ends, anger and hurt is a natural response. No matter who’s to blame or what factors contributed to the divorce, it’s normal to lash out—but this is one situation where you should take a deep breath, take a step back from the situation, and think about what really matters to you. For many divorcing couples, a collaborative divorce is much more peaceful and respectful than a traditionally litigated divorce. Read on to learn how.

1. Maintains Decision-Making Power

When you and your spouse choose to collaborate, you decide to treat your divorce more like a business deal than a battle to be won. You and your spouse decide what give and take makes the most sense for the two of you. If you go through the litigation process and end up in trial, the judge decides how you’ll divide property, how parenting time will be split, and which financial obligations each party absorbs. When you choose to resolve things through the collaborative process, you and your spouse maintain control. Your collaborative lawyers will guide you to make sure your agreements meets the requirements of the law.

2. Lays the Groundwork for a Healthy Co-Parenting Relationship

Life goes on after divorce, and the hurtful decisions made in the heat of litigation can damage your co-parenting relationship for years. If you and your ex-partner have children together, you owe it to them to get along as much as possible. Setting aside your hurt feelings and deciding to work together during divorce can help you learn to work together as co-parents.

3. Minimizes Animosity

The focus of the traditional divorce process is the day of trial. Lawyers want to be prepared for the court battle, even if the vast majority of cases never reach that point. That usually means getting ready to make the other side look as bad as possible. That is a process with a great chance of permanently damaging the relationship between people who, no matter what, will be a part of each other’s lives until death do they part. Going to court is off the table in the collaborative process so the focus is on finding solutions that work best for both parties. The level of animosity and future stress declines when both parties are treated with dignity and respect.

4. Protects Your Privacy

If privacy is a top concern for you, collaborative divorce is a good choice. Business people, professional athletes, entertainers, other with high profiles, and just ordinary couples who value their privacy have chosen the collaborative route to keep their private business out of the public spotlight. In a collaborative case, the only documents in the public file are the bare minimum required by law, a divorce request on no-fault grounds, routine notices, and the divorce agreement made by the parties.

5. Can Reduce Expenses

Perhaps one of the main benefits of a collaborative divorce is the fact that it is efficient and because of that is often much less expensive than lengthy litigation. When a divorce case moves toward trial, pretrial motions, lengthy written discovery, document production, and depositions coupled with lots of back and forth between layers can draw out the case and add thousands to your legal bill. In a collaborative case, the parties often together hire a neutral financial expert to gather all the essential information needed to help them and their attorneys make decisions about dividing their assets and liabilities. Both parties are expected by court rule to make “full, candid, and informal disclosure of information without formal discovery” That information is put together for both parties by the financial neutral rather than two teams of lawyers and paralegals in separate offices. It saves lots of time and money in that way.

Divorce is never easy, but the right legal support can make it as stress-free as possible. If you’re ready to explore your options, call Irwin Kuhn of Venick, Kuhn, Byassee, Austin & Rosen, PLLC and set up a consultation. We’ll help you compare your options and prepare you for a smooth transition to your post-divorce life.