Collaborative law or collaborative divorce is an alternative to the traditional divorce process in the court system—it is a process in which spouses hire attorneys to help dissolve the marriage by resolving differences through agreement rather than by litigation in court.

In collaborative law, the spouses try to come to agreements on the division of property, spousal support payments, child support payments, and child custody schedules—rather than the judge making these decisions by court order. Collaborative law is designed to reduce some of the more confrontational, destructive conflict in the divorce litigation process, while offering the spouses greater privacy and confidentiality in their personal lives.

The characteristic elements of collaborative law include:

• a written agreement signed by the spouses and their lawyers that no one will use or threaten to use the court process during the collaborative process

• each spouse has a lawyer and actively participates in all negotiations

• financial and other experts are retained jointly and are prohibited from working for the spouses if the spouses decide to use the litigation process

• neither lawyer can participate in any litigation against the other spouse after working as a collaborative lawyer on the matter

• the lawyers are terminated (“fired”) if the spouses decide to use the litigation process

Many states have laws that define the collaborative law process and give effect to the agreements made by the spouses. These laws are generally located in the state’s statutes—often in the family or domestic relations code.

In Alabama, collaborative law, also known as collaborative divorce, is recognized as an alternative to traditional divorce litigation. This process involves both spouses hiring attorneys specifically trained in collaborative law to negotiate and resolve issues such as property division, spousal support, child support, and child custody without going to court. The key elements of collaborative law include a commitment not to litigate, active participation by both spouses and their attorneys in negotiations, the use of jointly retained neutral experts, and the understanding that should the process break down and move to litigation, the collaborative attorneys will withdraw from the case. Alabama does not have a specific statute that exclusively governs collaborative law; however, the principles of collaborative law are generally supported by the legal framework that encourages settlement and negotiation in family law matters. Attorneys practicing collaborative law in Alabama typically adhere to the standards set by collaborative law organizations and incorporate the collaborative law principles into their practice to help clients resolve their disputes amicably.