Collaborative Divorce: Getting Down to Business

The longer I practice collaborative divorce, the more benefits of the process I discover.

Case in point:  I recently helped a client who owned her own small business.  She had owned the business for a decade or more when the couple decided to divorce. 

The looming divorce forced her to analyze her cash flow needs for the future when she would be supporting herself.  The problem was that she had not kept a tight handle on the company’s finances in the past.  She didn’t know if the income from her business would support her in the future and help support the children.

Fortunately, she was in the multidisciplinary collaborative divorce process.  So, she and her husband hired a neutral financial specialist to help them with the financial planning of their divorce in the collaborative process. 

Thus, my client was able to spend time with the financial specialist getting a handle on her business’s finances.  And, she did not have to do it under the pressure and stress of subpoenas, discovery demands and other litigation tactics.

Once that was done, my client had good solid numbers to analyze for her business.  That enabled her to make financial decisions in the collaborative process that she did not feel comfortable making earlier. 

That ability to make decisions was of great benefit to her spouse, who had a need to make decisions and move forward. 

My client came out of the process with a separation agreement, co-parenting plan and financial plan that worked for her, her spouse and her business. 

And, as an added benefit, she came away with a much better understanding of the financial picture of her business.

This case is just one great example of the many “value-added” benefits of collaborative family law and highlights why small business owners benefit from the collaborative divorce process.

Randolph (Tré) Morgan III is an experienced family law attorney accepting cases in Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Garner, Fuquay-Varina, Clayton, Smithfield, Wake Forest, RTP, Durham, Chapel Hill, Holly Springs and surrounding areas.  He focuses his practice in divorce, child custody, alimony, child support, equitable distribution, property division, paternity, guardianship and other family related matters.