EXPERIENCED LEGAL REPRESENTATION

Austin, Texas Collaborative Law and Family Law Attorneys

As opposed to fighting out your divorce in court, collaborative law provides a viable option to resolve your family law situation using cooperation and open communication. At Patricia L. Brown & Associates, P.C. in Round Rock, Texas, we are dedicated to and truly believe in the benefits of collaborative law as a way to solve problems and facilitate positive relationships. Our family law attorneys are dedicated to collaborative law and encourage our clients involved in a divorce to explore that option.

The Collaborative Law Process

If you and your spouse agree to the collaborative law process, you will each have a family law attorney representing you. There is no mediator as the four individuals work to resolve the various issues. Please know that you are not obligated to come to a resolution regarding your divorce and you can always stop the process if it's not working. However, resolving the matter in a courtroom will require different attorneys as they cannot represent you after they have served as your advocate in the collaborative law process. You will have to seek different counsel and essentially start the divorce process, including child support and custody all over again.

Emotional Elements of Divorce

Divorce and child custody and support proceedings are rife with emotion when the best interests of the children become a topic of discussion in the collaborative law setting. Tolerance and respect must be a priority throughout the process and the best interests of the children must be paramount to both parties. What is said in the collaborative law room is not a public record. Courtroom testimony is quite another story. Airing your grievances in that setting only creates more rancor and damages relationships throughout your entire family.

Willing to Compromise with an Open Mind

By agreeing to the collaborative law process, you have to be willing to compromise and maintain an open mind about the family law-related issues presented. Perhaps the best benefit in collaborative law is the control you have over the outcome of your divorce. Putting decisions in the hands of a judge is the same as giving up control of your future.

Realistically, we cannot demand our clients enter the collaborative law process and reach a settlement as a way to resolve their divorce. Inevitably, it is up to the other party to agree to it as well. If there is no agreement to start the process, you can take the matter to court, even if it involves child custody and support. If we reach a stalemate in our discussions with no out-of-court settlement, we will recommend an attorney that can represent you in starting the process over again.

For more information or to schedule an appointment regarding the collaborative law process, please contact us.