The collaborative divorce model provides a way for you and your spouse, while surrounded by your own team of professionals, to find a fair, favorable and amicable way to untangle your lives and start the next chapters of your lives.
That said, many people who are headed into divorce worry about how their marriage dissolution will impact their financial positioning. This is true whether you choose collaborative divorce or a more traditional method.
What can you do to ensure that you get the most out of the property division process in your collaborative divorce? Let’s take a closer look.
Tips for protecting your interest during the collaborative divorce property division process
There’s a lot to think about when property division is on the line. After all, Tennessee is an equitable division state, meaning that marital assets have to be divided fairly, but not necessarily equally. With that in mind, here are some tips you can utilize to ensure that you’re getting a fair shake in your collaborative divorce property division process:
- Be receptive to new ideas: Going into your divorce, you might have an idea of how you want property division to play out. But the collaborative process is about working together to find an agreeable way to resolve key divorce legal issues. So, be open-minded to new ways to resolve your property division issues.
- Be honest with your spouse: You’re not going to get what you need out of your divorce if you dance around what it is that you really want and need to successfully move onto the next stage of your life. So, go into the property division process with clearly defined goals that you’re able to articulate to your spouse. That way you can work together to try to get as close to that outcome as possible.
- Choose your professionals carefully: It can be hard to see everything clearly when you’re in the middle of the divorce process. That’s why you need a solid team of collaborative divorce professionals on your side. By having a strong team in your corner, you can develop a property division resolution strategy that’s aimed at protecting your long-term interests.
- Focus on the future: When you’re dealing with property division, it’s easy to focus on what you need to get by in the immediacy of your divorce’s finalization. But you can’t lose sight of what you need to be successful in the long-term. For example, if you give up too many retirement assets, then you could be left without the time and resources needed to ensure financial stability when the time comes to stop working.
Is collaborative divorce right for you?
Only you can answer that question. However, the process can be less stressful and lead to a more positive outcome for you and your spouse. But that doesn’t mean that the process is a walk in the park. You still need a legal strategy and clearly defined outcomes that you want to achieve. Then, after building your collaborative divorce team, you’ll hopefully be able to secure the resolution that sets you on a path to a successful future.