Victoria qualifies in collaborative practice

As part of Oerton Simm' ongoing commitment to helping couples find better and more family focused ways of separating, Partner, Victoria, has recently completed her collaborative training through Resolution.

Collaborative practice is one of the options available to divorcing or separating couples as a means of helping them to resolve the legal, practical, financial and parenting issues which arise when the relationship has broken down.

Unlike the more traditional approach of using the courts to help you resolve the issues surrounding the separation, collaborative practice places the control back into the hands of the separating couple. It is a commitment by the couple and their respective lawyers to avoid using the court but instead to work together as a team to identify your common goals and to work towards bespoke solutions which focus on the individual needs of your family and your children.

Collaborative practice developed as a reaction to the often traumatic and adversarial approach to traditional practice which frequently saw couples dragged through a court system which ultimately left their relationships damaged, sometimes irreparably. This is particularly worrying for those couples who want and need to maintain open and trusting relationships for the sake of co-parenting their children or indeed those couples who simply wish to move on from the relationship in a respectful and dignified way.

In contrast the collaborative approach sees couples working together around the table with their lawyers. Couples identify the issues that are most important to them and with the help of their lawyers and sometimes other third party professionals, get to work on finding solutions that best suit them and their family.

Victoria says;

I am really delighted to be able to offer this service to clients. Collaborative practice represents a huge shift away from the traditional approach to divorce or separation. For those couples who want to separate in a consensual way, who are determined to work together to put the needs of their family and children first and above all want to be the architects of their own future, working collaboratively could be the answer. It will not be appropriate for all but for a large number of couples it really could be. I think what is truly refreshing and different about this approach is that it does not ignore the emotional and psychological context of a relationship breakdown. It acknowledges and views the separation as a human experience and not simply a business transaction. The breakdown of a relationship can represent a period of trauma when our lives are turned upside down and our futures seem uncertain. The court process, which of course is not designed to view the separation in this way, can result in couples simply being carried along towards an outcome that they feel neither in control of or even part of. It seems to me that no matter how painful and upsetting the separation might be most couples want to retain some form of future relationship for them or their children and want to be respectful of the loving relationship that they once had, even if they can no longer be together.

If you would like any more information about approaching your divorce or separation in a collaborative way then please do not hesitate to contact either Victoria or Graham on 01823 259449.