Elizabeth Coughter Blog Archive

Only lawyers trained in the collaborative divorce process participate in the process. Most collaborative law practitioners have also been trained in counseling or mediation before receiving collaborative law training.     The lawyers and the clients are committed to treating one another with respect; to listening to one another's perspectives, interests and concerns; to gathering and exchanging all of the information each client needs; to exploring all possible options; and to focusing on the future in order to find solutions acceptable to both clients.     Each lawyer will represent his or her own client, but will also listen...

What is Collaborative Divorce? Part 1 The Collaborative Divorce Process focuses on cooperation, not confrontation. It is a means of problem solving with the assistance and guidance of a lawyer for each spouse. The lawyers help the clients to determine and focus on what is important to them; they guide the clients in trying to understand one another's concerns; they assist in exchanging information; they encourage the exploration of a wide range of possible choices; and they work towards reaching solutions acceptable to both clients. The clients are responsible for gathering information and proposing solutions. The focus is on...

Currently, in contested custody cases in Virginia, the law speaks in terms of the court's ability to determine custody or visitation arrangements. The law also speaks in terns of legal and physical custody. Often batted around is the phrase "primary physical custody." Each of these terms and phrases carries perhaps more meaning to the lay person and parent involved in litigation than it should.   Some states have revised their laws to remove the word "custody" from divorce proceedings and the litigation involving children. Instead of the word "custody," these statutes refer to "parental responsibilities;" "parenting time;" and/or "decision-making."   Changing...

Virginia's General Assembly this year has streamlined the "no-fault" divorce process. As long as the spouses have been separated, the requisite amount of time (12 months with children; 6 months without children and with a written separation agreement), then the party seeking the divorce may do so by affidavit as long as the other spouse is personally served with the divorce complaint and fails to file an answer to the complaint or otherwise make a formal appearance  in the case.   This affidavit process is similar to the taking of "no-fault" depositions. Unlike depositions, however,  the admissions of the facts...