Frequently Asked Questions
What is Collaborative Team Divorce?
Collaborative Team Divorce is an inter-disciplinary process in which Collaborative Attorneys, Financial Specialists, Neutral Mental Health Practitioners, and Child Specialists are trained to work together to help families find holistic solutions, building hope for the future. Financial Specialists (who are licensed for example as analysts, accountants, etc.) work with families to develop a cash flow plan which maximizes after-tax income, and an asset distribution plan which takes need and potential tax issues into account as well. Neutral Mental Health Practitioners (who are licensed for example as psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed social workers, etc.) help to guide the entire process, and help families to identify their strengths and build a plan for future parenting and communication which builds on those strengths. This work is frequently incorporated into a Parenting Plan, which is submitted to the Court at the end of the process and becomes part of the legal judgment of marital separation or dissolution.
In Minnesota, most Collaborative Team Practitioners are also trained as mediators, and are skilled in working with couples “one-on-one”. Collaborative Team Divorce is designed for families to obtain advice from the professionals who can best meet their needs, and also for the family to limit how much is spent on a dispute resolution process. In this way, the Team Process is designed to be both better (with expert help easily available) and less costly than conventional legal representation.
A list of those professionals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul/Twin Cities area who are trained as Collaborative Team Practitioners can be found here.
A copy of the Team Parenting Plan used in Minnesota by Team Practitioners may be found on this website posted on the Articles page.
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