by Kathy Campbell, CFLS
www.campbellfamilylaw.com
Recently, several Santa Clara County judges participated in a webinar regarding the impact the Coronavirus Shelter In Place Orders have had on the county’s court system. It was a sobering discussion. The courts are doing everything they can to protect Santa Clara County residents’ rights. Nonetheless, the impact will be significant. As a collaborative divorce attorney, my practice offers some creative solutions for addressing family law needs during this time when court access is limited. Although the Shelter In Place Orders closed the courts’ doors and will cause unprecedented delays; California collaborative professionals will keep their video conference windows open to help you finalize your divorce.
Since the Shelter In Place Order was issued, information from the courts about the impact on courts has been limited. Questions from clients about how the court’s closure will impact them have been difficult to answer. Today’s webinar finally provided some very difficult answers.
Upon the lifting of the Shelter In Place Orders, the Santa Clara County courts intend to direct judicial resources to the criminal divisions to protect constitutional rights, which are most heavily implicated in criminal courts. This means that urgent financial issues such as child or spousal support modifications necessitated by job losses or income reductions cannot be addressed as soon as the courts reopen. At best, the courts can queue requests. However, because no one knows when the Shelter In Place Orders will be lifted, no hearings are being scheduled. Submitting a request to the court only puts it in a long line of similar requests. With more than six million unemployment claims filed in this country last week alone, that is going to be a very long line. And because no one knows when the court will resume family law matters, there is not even a timeline for when the court will hear the first in that long line of requests.
The good news is that there are alternatives. Collaborative divorce provides a team approach to helping you and your spouse finalize your divorce. You work through the issues without ever entering a courtroom. Collaborative divorce teams include two attorneys, two coaches, a financial neutral, and an optional neutral child specialist for families with children. These professionals have significant experience working with divorcing families in challenging circumstances. This well-designed, unique team process can continue working with the spouses to effectively resolve your divorce even during the shut-down via online confidential video conferences.
In the collaborative divorce, each spouse is supported by his or her own attorney who work together to support the couple through their issues. And while each attorney supports his or her own client, collaborative attorneys are specially trained to do so while considering each family member’s interests and simultaneously safe-guarding his or her client’s interests. Using the team’s advice, support, and information the spouses together design the resolution – not the attorneys – as sometimes happens in other divorce processes.
Licensed mental health professionals, known as coaches, are also part of the team and work with parents to develop better co-parenting skills and communication while they prepare a comprehensive parenting plan. A child specialist can be added to the team as a neutral to present the children’s view to the parents and team.
Whether or not there are kids in the family, coaches always work to help clients meaningfully engage in the process. Family roles necessarily change in divorce and coaches help spouses transition into new roles each spouse designs. Each spouse identifies and voices his or her interests and needs. This insures that the whole family’s needs are considered and that each spouse participates in creating the resolution.
A financial professional completes the team. Bringing neutrality, financial expertise, and knowledge about divorce-related issues; the neutral collects financial data, prepares the mandatory disclosures, and guides discussions about appropriate possible resolutions based on the spouses’ interests. The neutral prepares financial models to allow each spouse’s potential financial future to be compared one relative to the other.
One additional feature of the collaborative divorce process is that you can begin your divorce using the collaborative process as soon as the two of you are ready without waiting for the court. In this cooperative process, a team can support your family by facilitating discussions all the way through to resolution and completion of your family’s new future without waiting for the courts. Once the courts reopen your team can submit documents for the judge’s signature or we can submit the documents to a private judge for signature sooner. Either way, we insure that the collaborative agreements the two spouses reach are just as enforceable as a judgment obtained in a court room. A collaborative divorce can help insure that court closures and backlogs do not delay this new chapter in your family’s life.
To obtain more information about collaborative divorce and to find a collaborative professional in your California county, please visit https://collaborativedivorcecalifornia.com/