Readers of this blog will recognize our commitment to the collaborative divorce process. Whenever possible, given the circumstances and personal dynamics of the parties, it usually is the best way to go in family court.
The collaborative divorce model is where a married couple meets with a team of family law professionals [case facilitator, family counselor, financial planner] before filing for divorce, hopefully resolving all issues in a signed settlement agreement. The process is collaborative rather than adversarial.
Across Michigan and our nation, there is a steady and growing movement toward favoring the collaborative model; the adversarial process is being relegated to a last resort.
Over the past four years, the Uniform Collaborative Divorce Law has been sweeping across the state legislatures. Recently, the Michigan Senate passed the model act, sending it along to the House Judiciary Committee.
Because the collaborative divorce model is so distinct from the adversarial process, the uniform law calls for standards and training for lawyers wanting to add collaborative divorce to their practice. The bill calls for the State Court Administrative Office to develop the training and lawyer qualification standards called for in the model act.
For its part, the SCAO does not want to be tasked with training the lawyers and wonders how it will pay for training and enforcing the standards. Unlike the other states that have passed the model act, Michigan would be the only state requiring training standards.
These standards come to us from the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the State Bar of Michigan's Family Law Section.
What is wrong with some additional training for family law lawyers, especially in thrust of the collaborative divorce resolution process. In our opinion, this is a good law which will hopefully pass through the House and become law.
Divorce needs more collaboration and less opposition.
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