Stillings & Buchinger, LLC

wisconsin Collaborative Divorce law

neenah :: menasha :: appleton :: oshkosh :: fond du lac :: dodgeville ::
green bay :: sheboygan :: manitowoc :: Berlin :: Wisconsin

An Alternative Divorce Method

"Collaborative Divorce" Law is an alternative to litigated divorce proceedings. In collaborative divorce proceedings, all parties agree in writing to resolve their issues without going to court.

Collaborative Divorce results in valuable benefits:

• Creates a cooperative environment with open communications to help meet the needs of the spouses and the children.
• Establishes a team, instead of adversaries, who work together and retain control of the process.
• Enables you to bring in expert consultants, such as child and family specialists and financial advisers, to provide valuable perspectives.
• Saves time by allowing the parties to schedule meetings that are convenient to them, rather than during the Court's calendar allowances.
• Your issues stay within the Collaborative Family Law team providing for greater privacy and confidentiality.
• You and your spouse shape the agreement that binds you; in working together, you both are more likely to honor the agreement and avoid future court intervention.

The primary goal of Collaborative Divorce is to reach an agreement that is in the best interest of all parties concerned while maintaining the dignity of each party and the relationship and obligations that extend beyond the divorce. The process seeks to replace the normal controversial and adversarial approach to divorce with a respectful process.

The collaborative divorce process

1. Each spouse obtains a separate collaborative divorce lawyer with whom he or she meets privately.
2. Joint sessions include all parties (both attorneys and both spouses).
3. Depending upon your individual circumstances, other professionals may also be involved to assist you and your spouse with various aspects of your settlement, such as financial advisors or mediators to help the parties come to agreement..
4. If one or both parties wish to pursue litigation, both attorneys are legally obligated to withdraw from the process and may not represent either party; consequently, both parties would then be required to hire new attorneys and pursue their divorce through the court system.

Collaborative Divorce strives to reduce the emotional costs of divorce; it may also reduce the financial costs in contrast to a legal battle within the court system.

collaborative divorce attorneys

Attorney Gordon E. Stillings is a certified collaborative divorce lawyer and a certified mediator. He is also a Family Court Commissioner (judge) for the Calumet County Family Court, a minister, and private divorce and family law attorney with more than twenty years of courtroom litigation experience.

Attorney Melody Buchinger is a certified collaborative divorce lawyer and a previous Family Court Commissioner (judge). She is a private divorce attorney with more than fifteen years of courtroom litigation experience.

free initial consultation

The divorce and family law attorneys at Stillings & Buchinger, LLC offer a free initial consultation. Please call (920-725-5305) locally in the Neenah, Menasha and Appleton, Wisconsin area, or 1-866-249-2582 in eastern and central Wisconsin.