About Out of Court Divorce™
Out of Court Divorce is a type Collaborative Mediation which combines aspects of the traditional two lawyer system, mediation, parent coordination and Arbitration to achieve results. It is an effective no-court approach to resolving legal issues which is based on clinical research and client feedback. In the context of separation and divorce, it helps protect the dignity and long-term interests of all family members involved.
It is a process in which the parties and their lawyers agree in writing to cooperate to create agreements that resolve the issues. No one goes to court or uses threats of court. Instead, Family Lawyers, Divorce Coaches and Financial Specialists, and Mediators work together to help couples and families through separation and into a positive, conflict-free, two-household future.
- Out of Court Divorce can reduce your stress and legal costs by helping you navigate conflict quickly and effectively
- Protects children from the harmful effects of divorce and models healthy communication
- Can give you control of the process and the outcome
- You can maintain your privacy (your agreement stays private)
- Helps you establish healthy relationships and a respectful, positive way forward
- Encourages a win-win outcome that is best for all family members
Even though most matters are settled out of court, the process is adversarial – which is completely different from Out of Court Divorce.
With adversarial (traditional) divorce:
- Your lawyers represent you separately, aiming to get you a better deal than your spouse (win-lose situation)
- You and your partner communicate through your lawyers through the litigation process, rather than talking directly with your spouse
- Your negotiations are often constrained to to the process of traditional litigation, which also includes threats of court
- Oftentimes, settlements are reached at the last minute, which is emotionally stressful and usually expensive
- The traditional process can create bitterness, resentment, and anger that lasts for years after settlement
With Out of Court Divorce:
- Your lawyers can still help you but we work together, aiming to create the best possible agreement for the whole family (win-win situation)
- You and your partner negotiate directly, with the support of highly skilled specialists that make sure everyone’s needs are heard (so, you don’t need to have lawyers at the table with you)
- You and your partner control the process instead of court-based rules and schedules, so that you both have better control over the outcome as well
- Divorce coaches provide you with emotional support that can lower stress and reduce costs by helping you resolve conflict and reach an agreement much quicker
- Collaborative process can heal bitterness, resentment, and anger while modelling effective and healthy communication for your children
In mediation, although the main goal is to resolve the issues in dispute, the threat of litigation & court still exists. Either party may decide to terminate the mediation and go to court. In signing the KDK Out of Court Collaborative Mediation Participation Agreement, all parties, along with their lawyers and other professionals involved, agree, and commit in writing to reach a resolution without litigation or threats of it. In mediation alone, there is one neutral third party who leads the process. Click here for more information on Mediation
In the Collaborative Process, both spouses can choose have their own lawyer present at online meetings. The main goal is to cooperate and reach agreements together, without the threat of litigation & court. Both spouses have access to a holistic team of financial specialists, child/parenting specialists, divorce coaches and lawyers with specialized training in Collaborative Mediation Process.
Out of Court Divorce and mediation share a few similarities. They are both interest-based, rather than position-based, forms of negotiation and resolution.
The traditional litigation court process is based on an adversarial system. This means that each party’s lawyer aims to get you a better deal than your spouse (win-lose situation) without considering the interests of the other party. If a case goes to court, each party is subject to cross-examination by the other spouse’s lawyer. The decision-making power rests on the judge. The parties have little control over the process and ultimately, the outcome.
The Out of Court Divorce™ process enables the parties to have more control over the outcome and make more arrangements that are best for you, your spouse, and your children.
Collaborative Mediation is a private, confidential process while traditional court process is public. It is a cooperative process where both spouses work together to achieve agreements, resolutions or settlements.
The Cost of Services depends on the complexity of your matter.
If your child has been abducted, you need to call the police and speak with a senior lawyer. If you and your spouse are living under one roof and have complex assets, you might speak with a couple’s senior lawyer. Maybe your situation is simple, and you require a legal information session with a financial specialist or mediator.
Our services and prices are listed here: pricing
You can also email our Intake Specialist Dexter who will help you to book in with a qualified expert now.
Call now Canada 1-866-KDK-LEGL Saskatchewan 306-546-4444
You can also start with a free 15-minute Clarity Conversation with an Out of Court Divorce expert here BOOK HERE
We are continuously seeking to add to our team and larger network. Please visit our the Professionals page and click on Join Our Team
Benefits of Out of Court Divorce™
Yes – Out of Court Divorce™ is a Collaborative Mediation. We use a 7 Step process interest based negotiation process which can be used across a variety of other settings. We have experience using Collaborative Mediation in other settings such as resolving disputes between business partners and employees and employers as well as other family members (brother sister; mother- child, etc).
Yes – Collaborative Mediation can save you tons of time otherwise spent in litigation and the traditional court process.
Collaborative Mediation can be less expensive than the traditional court process. It is designed to be more efficient with four-way meetings among the parties and their lawyers, focused on reaching a settlement. Collaborative Process eliminates the need for multiple experts to prepare documents and exhibits for use in court, or to conduct discoveries or issue subpoenas. The cost of either collaboration or court depends on the number of issues that couples need to resolve as part of their separation.
The 7 Step Out of Court Divorce process can also include other specialists and professionals who are highly trained and provide better value in their area of expertise.
Yes – Out of Court Divorce Experts can reduce and resolve conflict much quicker than the traditional divorce process. The Collaborative Mediation Process is designed to help both parties reach an agreement in a cooperative manner while eliminating threats of court throughout the process.
Who is Out of Court Divorce™
The Out of Court Divorce team is a holistic group of professionals. We design the process based on your needs.
- A Mediator or facilitator acts as a neutral and designs the process based on your needs
- A Divorce Coach provides emotional support and helps you communicate with the other party effectively to reduce conflict.
- A Financial Specialist who helps you determine the nature and value of your property
- A Child Specialist who can assist with parenting issues
Collaborative Family Lawyers are highly trained in the Collaborative process. They equip you with legal advice, can help you negotiate, and help guide you through the Collaborative process. In a traditional Collaborative process, each spouse or parent will have their own lawyer. Since the Out of Court Divorce specialists are trained in Saskatchewan Law, you will not always need legal advice or a lawyer in our process.
Divorce coaches are certified mental health professionals (such as psychologists, clinical counsellors, social workers, or psychiatrists) with specialized Collaborative training.
Here’s how a Divorce Coach assists the parties and other team members:
- Helps identify and understand feelings, values and needs
- Provides support for the emotional aspects of divorce and separation
- Looks at the problem objectively rather than who’s right or who’s wrong
- Helps family members improve effective communication and reduce conflict, misunderstandings, and blame
- Helps parents develop effective co-parenting skills and model healthy communication for the children
During Collaborative Mediation a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) will:
- Help you identify short and long-term effects of dividing property.
- Help you determine affordable housing.
- Help you to identify a budget.
- Help you to identify your future financial goals.
- Save you time and money during the process
- Help reduce the apprehension during the process.
- Financial neutral.
Kalie Migneault is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) that works with our Collaborative Divorce team.
General
Yes – Sharing your financial information is one of the things you agree to when signing the Participation Agreement. There is no formal “discovery” process in the Out of Court Divorce Process that forces you and your spouse to share financial information.
No – With Out of Court Divorce, both you and your spouse sign a Participation Agreement agreeing that anything disclosed in the Collaborative Mediation Process cannot be shared if you decide to start over and pursue traditional divorce
This can vary based on what your immediate concerns are about. Most couples start with a Collaborative Divorce Lawyer at KDK Legal Collaborative Lawyers because lawyers play a central role in explaining legal advice and legal information.
However, if your primary concerns are financial, there are Financial Specialists on the Out of Court Divorce team that you can contact Kalie Migneault, kalie@outofcourtdivorce.com
Similarly, if your concerns revolve around emotions, conflict, or child/parenting issues, you can get started by contacting a Divorce Coach or Child Specialist. Thalia McCready, mediation@outofcourtdivorce.com
Yes – The Out of Court Divorce 7 Step Process helps you and your spouse figure out what works best for both of you (win-win situation), rather than the conflict fuelled dynamic that comes with traditional court divorce (win-lose situation).
Absolutely – Even if you don’t consider yourselves “collaborative”. Collaborative Mediation helps couples in high-conflict separations come to a mutual agreement and move forward with strength, mutual privacy, respect, and dignity.
Your spouse may not be aware of the benefits of Collaborative process and how it works. You can ask them to learn about it by sending them to our website or calling us 1-866-535-5345. You can also meet with us and we can phone or write your spouse to introduce the collaborative process and invite your spouse to join. Many spouses have successfully joined a collaborative process after an invitation and this is a great matter to raise at your first meeting with one of our lawyers or team members. Contact us.
Absolutely. Even though an action may have already been filed in Court, you and your spouse may start the Collaborative Mediation Process by signing a Participation Agreement. This is a written agreement where both of you agree and commit to take no further steps in the Court process.
If the Out of Court Divorce Process breaks down, each spouse is required to get a new lawyer because this ensures that both spouses in the collaborative process will fully commit to find solutions and reach mutual agreements. This commitment helps everyone working to maintain progress and achieve resolution even if it gets tough. The requirement that your lawyers works solely in the capacity of a collaborative team member protects the integrity of the collaborative process. It also prevents anything shared during the collaborative mediation process from being used as preparation for going to court.
If a settlement cannot be reached, you and your partner can explore other options for settlement such as mediation, which may allow you to stay within the Collaborative Process. If either spouse decides to go to court, the Collaborative Professionals, and any other team members involved, must withdraw. Each spouse retains a new lawyer for the court hearings.