FamilyFirst Law- Center for Collaborative Family Law and Mediation

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Collaborative Law

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Call for FREE Consultation: (800) 419-4171

email: info@familyfirstlaw.org

√ Fast-- FamilyFirst Law resolves divorces in a matter of months, rather than years. Since 2007, The California Courts have officially recognized the Collaborative Divorce process as the fastest and most effective way to resolve a family divorce in California.

√ Cost Effective-- The FamilyFirst Law Collaborative Law process eliminates the most expensive parts of a traditional legal process and focuses all efforts on constructive solutions. There are no hidden fees, and you will never visit the Courthouse. It is far less expensive than the traditional adversarial approach and litigation.

√ Protects the Children-- A Collaborative Divorce process protects your children from the harm associated with conventional litigation and adversarial divorce between parents. No one wins in family court, especially the children.

√ Comprehensive-- The Collaborative Process includes more than just the law. In addition to your Collaborative Attorney, the team of trained Collaborative professionals may also include: parenting coaches (licensed marriage and family therapists), Certified Divorce Financial Analysts, estate planning counselors, career advisers, child specialists, or mediators and arbitrators. It offers a COMPLETE solution which seeks to educate and foster active participation.

√ Protecting Your Legal Rights-- Collaborative law is a complete legal process which results in a court ordered stipulated judgment. Unlike classic facilitative mediation, we focus on education and guidance. You WILL get legal advice, and you WILL know the law as it applies to your case, your legal rights and obligations.

√ Avoids the Conflict-- FamilyFirst Law resolves real family issues and finds real family solutions. Not manufactured legal disputes which always arise from traditional litigation. The collaborative process converts a would be destructive emotional battle into a constructive win-win problem solving opportunity that finds creative solutions often unavailable in court.

√ Transformative- Collaborative Law is a transformative process. You have total control over the outcome. All your personal information will remain private and never published in the Court file. You will be actively involved in the entire settlement process with all professionals, and you and your attorney will together select the team of professionals. Your input will help structure a customized mutually agreeable settlement solution which meets your needs.

√ You Are In Control-- Judgments from a Court of law decide your future, your fate, and the fate of your children, often resulting in 'rough justice'. Few are ever pleased with a Court ruling. Decisions are made in Court with only a fraction of the true facts and life changing decisions are often determined in under 15 minutes by a judge who barely knows you and your family. Court hearings on even a single issue are routinely delayed months and months, cases will often last many years. A Collaborative Law process will protect your legal rights, resolve in a matter of months, and keep you in control of the result and the outcome.

If you and your spouse are considering divorce or in need of resolving a marital conflict, a new alternative to the traditional litigation approach is called a Collaborative Law process for Family Law, and can be applied to any family law matter, divorce, legal separation, pre and post marital agreements or any other marital conflict. Now favored by State Courts and codified in the law, this new modern approach provides a way for all parties and professionals to agree to an out-of-court solution which removes the threat of litigation but still retains the benefit of legal representation for the purpose of developing fair and durable settlement agreements.

Trained collaborative attorneys, parenting coaches, financial specialists, and other professionals come together as a team to work with your family to educate, advise, and guide your family towards mutually agreeable solutions in a respectful, but structured transformative environment in which the parties maintain complete control. It is an effective and new way to end a marriage or resolve a martial conflict without the acrimony, anger and resentment which often results from protracted conventional legal and adversarial litigation. Collaborative Law is fast, cost-effective, and protects you and your children from the harm associated with litigation and adversarial divorce.