Welcome to Central Sydney Collaborative Forum
Separation and divorce can often be distressing. Separating partners suddenly find themselves dealing with a series of unfamiliar social, legal and financial considerations.
Collaborative practice can be used if you are married, in a de-facto or same sex relationship.
Many partners have found a more compassionate, less adversarial way of separating through collaborative family law because it promotes respect, places the needs of any children at the forefront and lets the partners who have to live with the results drive the process.
The members of Central Sydney Collaborative Forum are lawyers from different firms who practise collaborative practice as a respectful and client focussed method of dispute resolution.
All Forum members are also experienced traditional family law and divorce lawyers. From this perspective we appreciate the advantages of collaborative practice.
As part of the collaborative process, clients and their lawyers agree to work together to find a fair and workable solution to all of the issues the family faces without going to court. The agreement not to go to court is made in writing at the outset.
Instead of conducting negotiations by letter or phone, the partners meet to work things out face to face in a series of meetings. Each has their lawyer by their side throughout the entire process. Each of the lawyers must be trained in collaborative practice. Every member of the Central Sydney Collaborative Forum is trained in collaborative practice.
Collaborative practice is well suited to pre-nuptial agreements for couples about to get married and those wanting to move in together in a de-facto or same sex relationship.
Collaborative practice suits partners who want to define their property entitlements and stay in a marriage, same-sex or de facto relationship.
If partners need to communicate well with each other after separation for the sake of children, collaborative practice will assist.
Issues that can be addressed include:
- Property settlement
- Child support
- Ongoing care arrangements for children
- Relocation of children including international disputes
- Tax and other liabilities
- Company restructures
- Any other issues that affect any member of the family arising either during the marriage or after separation
- Pre-nuptial and/or cohabitation agreements
Collaborative practice offers a different way of divorcing that can help partners make a healthy and positive transition from one stage of their life to the next.