Four Syllables

What is a four-syllable word for divorce?  
Collaborate.  
Definition of collaborate: work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something.
You and your husband worked jointly on your relationship, your wedding planning, the conception of your children… your marriage.  Why not work jointly on your divorce, especially if you have children.  
You are moving from one home to two… you are splitting time with the children, you are learning how to live without one another… leaving the toilet seat up, or never having to worry if it IS up.  
There is no question that affairs of the heart are messy.  Breaking up makes otherwise sane and rational people do crazy things.  And the hiring of lawyer to help you break up can make things worse, or it can make things better.  Let’s talk about how hiring the right professionals can make your divorce as good an experience as breaking up can be.  
In divorce, there are several issues to sort out, the most important of them being severing your legal relationship, attending to your financial affairs and most importantly, nurturing your mental health.  
The collaborative law movement is not new.   It was started in Minnesota in 1990 by Stewart Webb, a family law lawyer who was just sick and tired of his job.  He wanted to continue to help people but he knew that he would not last another second battling it out medieval style with colleagues.  The movement is here now… and it is the right way to divorce.  
It is not litigation… it is not mediation.  It is collaboration. Three professionals (legal, financial and mental health), working with you and your spouse, guide you and your spouse through the process of breaking up.  We help you to break the legal relationship, figure out your finances and keep sane while going through one of life’s major stress events.  There is no spouse vs. spouse, lawyer vs. lawyer… while we never expect a kumbaya experience, only in a collaborative divorce could there ever be a kumbaya experience.  
If you’re headed toward a break up, please consider collaborating with your spouse.  Even if you think you can’t… if you have kids, it is instrumental to their wellbeing that you maintain your sanity.  

Contributor:
Christine Sue Cook, Esq.
Christine Sue Cook LLC.
1600 North Palafox St. | Pensacola, FL 32501
(850) 972-1738
www.christinesuecook.com