Collaborative Divorce Sounds Ideal, But Isn’t That Expensive?

By: Jacqueline Caputo, Esq.

Date: March 3, 2025

All too often, I explain the Collaborative Process to a potential client in a consultation and the response is… “that sounds amazing and I would love to do it that way, but isn’t that super expensive?”  Resolving a divorce in the Collaborative model is the most supported a family can possibly be when going through such a difficult time.  It is truly a luxury to have a dedicated professional team at your disposal to assist on legal, financial and emotional perspectives.  But don’t be so quick to eliminate this option just because you think it is a luxury you cannot afford.   

Eliminate the Waste

Divorce will be a tremendous expense no matter which option you choose, but the Collaborative Process can be a better use of your money than litigation in that you are paying for substantive work to be done on your matter.  Here’s a great example for you to consider: When you litigate, you are ordered to appear in court at a particular time.  You and your spouse are each there with your respective attorneys at 9:30am and you find out there are multiple other cases on your judge’s calendar that morning, so you all sit there and wait until the case is called at noon.  The attorneys go into chambers without you to discuss the case and emerge to 10 minutes later to tell you that you’ll exchange some disclosures and have another appearance in 60 days.  You feel uneasy and unsatisfied and you each have to pay your attorney for 3 hours of their time.  Alternatively, in a Collaborative case, you planned a meeting at a time and location that works for you both.  Your attorneys met ahead of time to prepare and you follow a detailed agenda.  After the meeting, your professional team meets to debrief and plan next steps to keep things moving.  You each paid for 3 hours of your attorneys time, but you resolved some points and have clear next steps and feel like you made some progress.          

Quality Matters

The end-product of a Collaborative case is a detailed, tailor-made agreement that you and your spouse each had a hand in designing and that is useful to you both in navigating this new normal.  You are more likely to adhere to it because you understand it, had time to consider it before locking into it, and had other professional to come to terms that are best for you.  You were able to test options, research the possibilities and include provisions that are comprehensive and well thought out.

 Customize Your Case   

The needs of every family are different, and we genuinely understand that.  Perhaps you don’t need a full team approach from the start.  It is possible to bring in a Financial Neutral and Family Specialist as needed for specific tasks.  Or consider meeting with just the Family Specialist without your attorneys to discuss a parenting time plan or a holiday schedule.  We can understand your budget and help design an approach that will be cost effective and perfect for you.  And also, if you mediate and each hire a consulting attorney, you are already paying multiple professionals, so the expense of a Collaborative team may not be that much more.

Mistakes Can be Costly

It is true that you get what you pay for.  Beware of fees or price quotes that seem too good to be true.  In my own practice, I represent a number of clients post-judgment to fix the mistakes they have experienced by their prior mediators or attorneys.  Perhaps they were trying to save money initially and signed an agreement that didn’t properly flesh out a particular issue.  This can be especially prevalent when it comes to dividing retirement assets.  That can be complicated.  Don’t try to cut corners because that can just cost you more in the end.      

Streamlined Options are Now Available

Contact my colleagues at LICDP to learn more about new, innovative streamlined options, whereby you can pay a flat fee at that start for a particular amount of pre-set meetings.  If additional time with a particular professional team member is needed or desired, you can always add on.   This may be a much more affordable way to achieve a Collaborative divorce.