We are currently involved in a collaborative
matter involving parties who were originally from a large regional town in
Victoria.
The parties had extensive business interests
in the town where they had resided together and substantial assets which assets
were included in the business, personally and in their superannuation
fund. The business was a successful
business although the husband had extended their company and personal debts
beyond a level that was sustainable from the income earned by their
business.
Collaborative meetings were arranged to take
place in Melbourne. The husband engaged
a solicitor in Melbourne to act on his behalf.
I was acting for the wife who resided in Queensland. My client and I travelled to Melbourne by
plane on the days scheduled for our collaborative meetings.
My client was still emotionally involved as a
result of the breakdown in her marriage.
Assisting us with the collaborative meetings were a psychologist (a
communication expert) and an accountant (financial adviser). All professional members of the collaborative
meetings had been trained in collaborative practice.
The psychologist met the parties prior to the
meetings taking place and gained a full knowledge of their emotional issues and
of matters that were of concern to them.
A debriefing was arranged with the professional members of the
collaborative group prior to the meeting taking place with the parties so that
we had a full knowledge of emotional issues which might be disruptive to the
meeting. The psychologist took control
of the initial stages of the first meeting to set the tone for the meeting and
to assist the parties in communicating with each other.
Collaborative practice was a great assistance
to these parties in resolving financial issues arising from the breakdown in
their marriage.
Did you know that Madonna, Uma Thurman and
Robyn Williams used the collaborative approach to resolve matters arising from
the breakdown in their marriages.
What do you think of Collaborative
Practice?
