Divorcing spouses don’t necessarily have to be adversaries, consuming their precious time and resources with divisive litigation. A more innovative approach to divorce, known as collaborative law, helps the parties settle their differences and end their marriage with limited court intervention. Although no single process or approach is correct for every divorcing couple, growing numbers of couples are accepting collaborative law as an effective alternative to mediation or litigation.
To begin a collaborative law case, each spouse retains his or her own collaboratively-trained attorney. Both parties and their attorneys then sign a written agreement, reflecting their intent to reach a mutually beneficial settlement without resorting to litigation through the court. During the collaborative divorce process, the parties meet both privately with their attorneys and jointly as a group to discuss the terms of their settlement agreement. Additional experts, such as divorce coaches, neutral financial professionals, and child specialists, may be retained during the process to assist with the settlement. These additional experts, collectively referred to as “team members,” are neutrals, i.e. they do not advocate for either party, but rather provide unbiased advice in their area of expertise to help guide the parties and their attorneys toward a fair and amicable agreement. For example, a financial professional may provide advice to the parties as a property settlement that would result in the most favorable tax implications for each spouse post-divorce. A child specialist may provide advice to the parties regarding the best parenting plan for their particular situation.
When both parties reach a final agreement, formal settlement documents will be drafted by the collaborative attorneys, who will follow the parties to the finalization of their case.
Even with the assistance of attorneys and a collaborative team, the parties may be unable to come to an agreement, or one or both parties may decide to proceed with litigation in court. If this occurs, the collaborative agreement terminates. Attorneys and any “team members” utilized during the collaborative portion of the process are disqualified from participating further in the adversarial court proceedings. This encourages the parties and their attorneys to fully commit to the collaborative process through cooperation and problem-solving, reduces the likelihood of unnecessary conflicts arising during the process, and encourages the parties to resolve their disputes more efficiently and amicably. Contact the collaborative law attorneys of WARD FAMILY LAW, LLC, today to schedule a consultation.
I am writing a review because I think a lot of times people make the same mistake that I did at the beginning of my case. I had a wonderful talk with Jennifer before my case started and I was very comfortable with her demeanor and her explanations of the Chicago Divorce process. I decided to go with another lawyer because the retainer was a little lower. Big mistake. I didn’t really like the lawyer when we spoke but I was more focused on the money instead of the big picture. I felt like there was no communication during my…
My Husband, now ex, and I wanted a friendly, fast divorce. We had nothing to fight about and nothing really to divide. We thought that would make it easy but when we saw all the paperwork we knew that we needed help. It takes one piece of paper to get married and 100 pieces of paper to get divorced in Chicago!! Ward Family Law made the divorce a smooth process for us and got it done faster than we thought. If you want to be friends with your ex but still want the divorce then look no further and call…
I had a very complicated divorce with a lot of family-owned businesses and assets. Jennifer and her team of professionals help navigate the formal discovery and litigation process with great knowledge, strategy, and patience with all our questions. My family was very concerned about the impact and outcome and we are all pleased with the results. From the appraisers to the business valuators, Jennifer utilized the right people at the right time to shore up our case for the best settlement position at pre-trial. We were happy with the Judge's recommendations, we believe, based on all her hard work and…
Highly recommended! We waited until the last minute to get our prenup done. Jennifer stepped in and got everything put together. We got to focus on the wedding and she got our prenup drafted and finalized with time to spare. If you want professional, trustworthy and thorough then go to Ward Family Law.
My girlfriend and I had a baby and broke up just after he was born. I did not realize that I was not automatically the dad in the Chicago system even though I was on the birth certificate. I am glad I reached out to Jennifer - she explained the process for unmarried parents and options to establish me as the Dad through paternity in the court system. She also helped with parenting time. Huge thank you.
It was harder than I thought to find the right family lawyer for me. She understood the underlying issues presented by my family and her being educated on the LGTBQIA2S+ community is hugely important to us. Strongly recommend her and the Ward Family Law team to anyone looking for the perfect fit for ALL
I knew that our custody case was going to be long and we would both be fighting hard for our kids. What I did not know is that the laws in Chicago had changed for custody and how that is handled in court. Jennifer took the time to explain the new legal terms like allocation judgment and parenting time and decision making and the steps that a case will require when the parents do not agree on anything for the kids. Once she knew how I felt and what I wanted, Jennifer and her legal team worked hard for me…
My boyfriend and I had a kid a few years ago. He was on the birth certificate so I thought we were fine and we were not. When it came time to get child support I needed to establish him as the dad with the court. After talking to WARD Family Law I knew that I needed a lawyer to get the paternity test, get child support and other money from him and set a schedule. They helped me understand how to help move the case forward so that we could get it over quickly and I really needed the…
I chose to hire Jennifer Ward after speaking with attorneys at several different firms. I chose her because 1) She's brutally honest, even when information being shared may not be what you want to hear. 2) She's very intelligent and experienced. 3) She's dedicated and tough as nails. On our initial phone call, after I'd shared with her some details of my separation, she shared some truths that hurt but were necessary for me to hear. I knew she wasn't going to be someone to hold my hand and soothe me (I have friends and a therapist for that!), but…
Jennifer represented me during a very difficult case and time in my life. I cannot thank her enough for her thorough representation of my case. She is definitely someone I would highly recommend to others!
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