Collaborative divorce was devised to do away with emotional upheavals that a family is subjected to during a divorce, especially those involving children. The collaborative divorce was designed with the help of attorneys, financial planning experts and mental health professionals who felt that traditional divorce caused tension, pain and anxiety in addition to a sense of loss.

Recent years have seen an increased number of couples desiring to separate go the collaborative way. In this kind of divorce, the couple work with a team of professionals who would deal with issues in a divorce that they are experts in and try to reach a settlement that would do away with uncertain outcomes in a court. The goal is to reach an agreement regarding all aspects of a divorce that would satisfy both parties involved as well as the children in it.

The problem between a high conflict divorces is always communication and perception. Collaborative divorces deal specifically with these issues. The first issue that is addressed is communication dynamics. The couple is encouraged to come together, sit and discuss problems that concern both of them like children, child support, visitation, spousal support, division of marital property, debts etc. Very often, there could be a dependent couple who would need time to attain new skills in order to become financially independent. Thus this issue can be solved with temporary spousal support and can be addressed amicably and sorted out peacefully in a collaborative divorce.

Custody disputes that occur are mainly due to differences in perception of individuals involved and general mistrust in each others abilities. During a collaborative divorce these differences can be worked out in such a manner that both parents are satisfied as well as the decision would be in best interest of child involved. If a joint custody is desired by both parents, they can work out visitation routines in accordance with visitation rights, so that it is convenient for all involved, especially the child. Post divorce co parenting plans can be drawn out and decided upon so that conflicts are reduced in future. The negative effects on emotional, economic and social well being of those involved in a traditional divorce are successfully triumphed over here.

All these issues can be worked out with help from professionals in their fields. The integration of emotional, financial and legal aspects of divorce would prevent unnecessary heart ache for children and couple undergoing divorce. The main focus of collaborative divorce is welfare of child and welfare of overall family, hence this focus shift is seen among the couple too, who decide to shift focus from their broken marriage and unpleasantness to making divorce less painful and building a life post divorce. Collaborative divorce allows them the freedom to start picking up threads much before the divorce is finalized in court.