In any divorce, the process starts with at least one of the spouses deciding they no longer want to be married. Once a decision to divorce has been made, the parties need to make many decisions. How will we share time with our children? How will we support two households? How will we divide our assets and debts? These and numerous other substantive questions must be answered.

But before any substantive decisions are made, the initial question is - what process will we use to resolve these issues?

There are several different processes you can use to resolve the issues of your divorce case. These processes are on a continuum, from simplest and generally least costly to most complex, time consuming and costly. These options are "Do-It-Yourself," Mediation, Collaboration and Litigation. In a Do-It-Yourself" divorce, neither party has the benefit of legal advice. In Litigation, each party generally hires a lawyer who often sees their role as being a zealous advocate for their client's position. Litigation is generally very time consuming and can be quite costly.

After more than ten years of divorce litigation experience, I recommend that divorcing couples resolve their disputes through either Mediation or Collaboration. These two processes offer couples the best chance to resolve their divorce case with dignity, privacy and respect.

MEDIATION - In this process, the parties jointly hire one mediator. Each party may consult with their own lawyer to obtain legal advice. The mediator is a neutral, and does not provide legal representation to either party. Mediation is one of the simplest and least costly divorce processes. For more information on Mediation and Natalie Wright's mediation services, click here.

COLLABORATION - In this process, each party retains their own lawyer who has been trained in the collaborative process. Both attorneys and spouses sign a written agreement that they will resolve all issues in the case through the collaborative process and will not go to court. The collaborative process also offers additional support for the family by collaborative coaches, child specialists and financial specialists. For more information on Collaboration and Natalie Wright's collaborative practice, click here.