Sheehan Law Offfice
Concentrating in Family Law and Residential Real Estate
FAMILY LAW
The philosophy of Sheehan Law Office, PC is that the practice of Family Law should not be a “Winner Takes All” Contest. Our job as your attorneys is to help you end your marriage in a productive way that allows you to maintain your self-respect and promotes a healthy recovery from the process financially and mentally.
PRODUCTIVE DIVORCE
In a Productive Divorce the goal is to reach the desired end product, a divorce, in a way that is Productive rather than destructive.
How can something as destructive to families as a divorce be Productive? This can be achieved by approaching it in a positive rather than a negative manner. If your desire is to leave the marriage with the least damage to your children’s emotional health, your dignity, your bank accounts, and possibly your sanity, you want a Productive Divorce.
On the other hand, if your goal is to make your spouse “Pay” or to make them “Miserable” you are looking for a Destructive Divorce, not a Productive Divorce.
If there are children involved, no matter what their ages, (Adult children are also affected by their parents’ divorces), a Productive Divorce will let you carefully dissolve your marriage, not destroy your relationship.
Some of the steps necessary to use Productive Divorce to end your marriage without destroying the relationship are:
- Identify your goals –
What do you need from this divorce?
What are your minimum needs?
Housing, monthly cash flow, vehicles
What do you want from this divorce?
What things would you like to take from your marriage?
What things do you not really care about?
What can you walk away from without a second thought?
- What do you know your spouse needs from this divorce?
What are their minimum needs?
Housing, monthly cash flow, vehicles
What do they want from this divorce?
What things would they like to take from your marriage?
What things do they not really care about?
What would they walk away from without a second thought?
Once you have identified what each of you want and need from the divorce, you are better able to assess the issues on which you disagree. Often there are only a few such issues.
There are several Productive Divorce methods available to resolve the outstanding issues that do not promote destruction of the relationship. Mediation can be used to resolve one or more outstanding issues of disagreement. Collaborative Law is an alternative. The two of you might decide to use the collaborative process for your divorce. Another means to a Productive Divorce can be through the attorneys and clients using open communication rather than Posturing to resolve their differences.
At Sheehan Law Office we strive to provide our clients with a Productive Divorce, striving for the outcome they seek without causing any attorney driven animosity between the parties.
We have observed cases where parties start out willing to compromise and work together to end their marriages. At times, these cases turn into costly ugly battles because someone is convinced that they can “win”. Such battles are at times caused by overzealous “litigators”. These attorneys often function as “alter egos” for their clients instead of counseling them toward sensible solutions. This is the costliest form of dispute resolution, both emotionally and financially.
There are cases in which one or both parties look to the courts for revenge or validation. These people are motivated primarily by strong emotion (fear, anger, guilt, etc.). As a consequence they take extreme, black and white positions while waging a no holds barred fight against the other party.
A “no holds barred” divorce is always destructive for the children involved. Such cases can drag on for many years. Few clients report satisfaction with the outcome of cases handled this way, regardless of who “won.”
The only real winners in a Destructive Divorce are the attorneys.
Our office will attempt to work with your spouse’s attorney to reach an amicable resolution to your case using our experience in mediation, collaborative law and negotiation.
If, for whatever reason, negotiations fail and your case does go to trial, we will diligently advocate your position before the court.
Productive Divorce is a better alternative than a “No Holds Barred” Destructive Divorce.
We invite you to browse our site for information on alternatives, such as Mediation and Collaborative Law and then call our office for a confidential consultation.
Phone: (815) 754-1484