Santa Cruz Divorce Solutions is a collaborative group of caring and experienced attorneys, communication coaches, child specialists, and financial professionals.
What is Collaborative Divorce?
Collaborative Divorce is a team approach to resolving disputes peacefully.
We support you to work through your divorce in a manner that will benefit you and your entire family. Your team usually consists of an attorney and a communication coach for you and your spouse or partner. If necessary, a neutral financial professional and a child specialist round out your core Collaborative Team. Each member maintains their own private practice and we work together to better serve the community.
Our commitment is to assist you in reaching a fair settlement without you ever having to enter a courtroom. Your collaborative agreement is fully enforceable in a court of law.
What is Mediation?
The goal of mediation is to reach a fair and equitable agreement for both parties.
Santa Cruz Divorce Solutions mediators are the most experienced in Santa Cruz County. The mediator acts as a neutral party, helping both of you to reach a fair and equitable agreement. Mediation is confidential, and the mediator will not go to court. You will have control over the result, and your resolution can be unique to the dispute. And because the result is the product of the parties working together, compliance with the mediated agreement is very high. Mediation is usually the least expensive way to resolve disputes. The mediated settlement is fully enforceable in a court of law.
Who We Are
attorneys
Our attorneys will negotiate in good faith without taking legal advantage of the other party or the other professionals in the process. We will not go to court to litigate nor will we testify on behalf of you and your spouse.
Our attorneys will consider all the options available to you, whether the issues involve custody, support, or the division of marital property and debts. They will work with the other professionals in the process to achieve the best result possible for you and your family.
Communication coaches
Our communication coaches address psychological issues that can slow down or even derail your progress. Coaches create an emotionally safe environment to help ensure that the conflict present in your situation is not further inflamed. Common issues for divorcing couples include power imbalance, value differences, co-parenting, substance abuse, infidelity, and mental or physical health problems.
These issues can create emotional roadblocks that hinder the divorce process. Coaches identify and prioritize each of your concerns and teach respectful communication skills. If you have minor children, coaches respond to their needs by writing a co-parenting plan that is workable for both of you.
Child Specialists
Child specialists act as independent and neutral representatives of your child’s needs. The child specialist teaches you how to provide the information and support your child needs during and after your divorce process. the child specialist meets with your child to him or her understand what is happening to the family; this gives your child a voice in the process.
These steps help to reduce the harmful effects of divorce on your child. The child specialist can help you, as parents, to work towards the best possible parenting plan.
Financial Professionals
Financial professionals will educate you about the financial considerations of various settlement options and discuss with you the financial expectations and realities of your situation. They will help you gather and organize the information of your disclosure of assets, debts and income as required by the court. They can appraise your business or professional practice. They will identify and evaluate the tax consequences of various settlement choices and present you with current and future cash flow analyses.
To get started, contact any one of our professionals.
“I am devastated about the divorce, but so thankful that my husband and I have such a great team to rely on to guide our family in the best manner possible.”
“Thank you very much for your fine advice. I was grateful that you encouraged me to consider options. Your advice was indispensable and, in the end, crucial.”
“I don’t think I ever thanked you all properly for this work. The process is truly a gift and we appreciate the sentiment behind it. You have all done an exemplary job lining us up for successful completion of our divorce.”