Collaborative Family Lawyer Ottawa, Ontario

Collaborative Family Law is a cooperative and creative approach that can help reduce the adversarial nature of a divorce or separation.

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Considering Collaborative Family Law?

The aim of Collaborative Family Law is for parties and their lawyers to enter into cooperative and collaborative negotiations without resorting to court. Stephanie A. Szczesniak is a collaboratively trained lawyer who can assist you in this process.

In a collaborative law case, each spouse retains his or her own legal representation who is specifically trained in collaborative family law. Both the spouses and the lawyers sign a document stating that they intend to reach settlement without resorting to litigation through the court.

In this process, the separating couple and their counsel meet together in a series of 4 way meetings in an environment which is respectful, safe and cooperative. Collaborative Family focuses upon interest based negotiations with the goal of finding resolutions that meet the mutual goals of the parties. In this way, the collaborative process provides the parties agency over the outcomes of their separation and allows separating couples to implement solutions that may be unconventional but ultimately meet the needs of their family.

Stephanie has been trained as a collaborative lawyer since 2018.

Ready to Learn More about the Collaborative Law Process?

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Collaborative family law is a cooperative approach

Benefits of a Collaborative Agreement

Collaborative family law uses a cooperative approach aimed at working together to achieve common goals to achieve several notable benefits.

  • Saves time and money: Avoid lengthy, unpredictable court battles and their associated costs.
  • Customized solutions: Create unique agreements tailored to your specific needs and circumstances.
  • Access to experts: Bring in family therapists, financial advisors, parenting coaches, and other professionals to help resolve disputes.
  • Reduces conflict: Achieve mutually beneficial outcomes while minimizing stress for everyone involved, especially children.
  • Maintains control: You and your spouse make the decisions, rather than leaving them up to the court.
  • Ensures privacy: Keeps your personal details confidential so they won’t become part of a public court record.

What Happens Next?

When the divorcing spouses are able to reach an agreement on all aspects of the separation, formal documents are drafted by the lawyers.

No matter how amicable divorcing spouses may be, sometimes couples are simply unable to reach an agreement on one or more points of the separation. One or both spouses may choose to seek litigation in court. If this happens, the collaborative agreement process will come to an end.