Divorce ends a marriage but does not need to sever family ties or relationships, especially when children are involved. By preserving respect and encouraging cooperation, Collaborative family practice helps parents maintain relationships with each other and their children long after the divorce is over.
The collaborative divorce process is based on three fundamental principles:
- a pledge not to go to court
- an honest exchange of information by both spouses
- a solution that takes into account the highest priorities of both the adults and their children
The collaborative process:
- encourages mutual respect
- emphasize the constant changing needs of children
- avoids lengthy litigation and court
- vests control of the process with the parties, not judges
- provides for open communication
- utilizes a problem solving approach
- identifies and addresses both parties interests and concerns
- prepares individuals for new lives
David Bulitt is trained and certified in Collaborative Family Practice. He is a member of the Howard County Collaborative Family Practice Group and maintains a network of professionals who are familiar with the many sensitive issues that arise during the divorce process. These individuals include other collaboratively trained attorneys, mental health professionals, investment counselors, accountants, real estate agents, bankers and mortgage brokers.
If you have any questions about the collaborative divorce process contact David Bulitt directly at (240) 553-1193 or email him at dbulitt@jgllaw.com.
Litigation is a process geared toward conflict. In a divorce case, that conflict involves not just the spouses, but often children and other family members as well. In many cases, litigation concludes after a lengthy period of time with a trial before a judge who will make decisions that will affect you and your family, in some instances for many years and even a lifetime.
In mediation, we take a different approach. The approach is one of cooperation, not confrontation. Mediation can take many forms: it can occur with the parties themselves alone with a mediator with or without counsel and, in some instances just the parties and their lawyers without a third party mediator. Every person, ever family and therefore every case is different. There is no "boilerplate" or "cookie cutter" method that works for all cases. Before embarking on a path of mediation, I will always discuss the options and suggest alternatives to my clients.
Ultimately, mediation enables you, my client, to have control over your future and the future of your children, rather than abdicating that control to a Judge who, despite the best of intentions, cannot possibly fashion a resolution in as thoughtful a way as you and your spouse can do yourselves if you are motivated to do so. In most cases, I have found that people who are invested in the mediation process and the outcome are much more likely to abide by an agreement than those who have had a result imposed upon them by a Court.
I represent many clients who participate successfully in the mediation process. I have been called upon on several occasions by other lawyers to serve as a private mediator for their cases and, in addition, been appointed by local courtŐs to mediate family matters. If you would like to speak with me or obtain more information regarding mediation, please contact me at dbulitt@jgllaw.com.
