COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE LAWYER · WESTPORT, CT

Connecticut Collaborative Divorce Lawyer: Keep Your Divorce Out of Court

You and your spouse both want this divorce handled like adults, not a war with lawyers as weapons.

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Collaborative divorce lets you keep control. You each keep your own attorney. You agree in writing to stay out of court.

You negotiate your own settlement instead of asking a judge to decide it for you. Your first conversation with a Maya Murphy, P.C. attorney is free and confidential, in person in Westport or by Zoom.

Your Collaborative Divorce Lawyer Negotiates Your Settlement Instead of Taking It to Court

Collaborative divorce is a form of dispute resolution that ends your marriage without asking a judge to decide your case. You and your spouse each keep your own lawyer. All four of you, you, your spouse, and both attorneys, sign a written participation agreement that commits everyone to negotiation, not litigation.

You still have every real decision to make: your property, your parenting time, your support. Collaboration changes how those decisions get made. It doesn’t make them disappear.

A successful collaboration can resolve property division, child custody and parenting time, child support, and alimony, all without a judge making the call for you. You and your spouse decide. Your attorneys make sure what you decide is fair and holds up.

Your Collaborative Lawyer Starts Your Case in Three Steps

Here is what happens first:

1

You and your spouse each hire your own collaborative law attorney.

Not one shared lawyer. Two, one loyal to each of you.

2

Everyone signs the participation agreement.

You, your spouse, and both lawyers commit in writing to negotiate, not litigate.

3

Your team negotiates a full settlement, then submits it to the court for entry as your final divorce judgment.

You never argue your case in front of a judge.

Your Collaborative Lawyer Runs the Negotiation, Not a Judge

Your Collaborative Lawyer Signs the Participation Agreement With You

Every case starts the same way: a written agreement, not a courtroom filing. You, your spouse, and both attorneys sign a participation agreement before any negotiating starts. It sets the ground rules: full financial disclosure, respectful negotiation, and no threatening the other side with litigation to gain leverage.

Connecticut has not passed a separate collaborative-divorce law. Your participation agreement is enforceable like any signed contract between two consenting adults, each represented by their own counsel.

Your Collaborative Lawyer Builds the Team Around Your Case

A collaborative team is bigger than you and your lawyer across a table from your spouse and theirs. A full team often includes a neutral financial professional. That person values marital assets and lays out settlement options both spouses can see. A team can also include a divorce coach or other mental health professional, who helps manage communication, especially when children are involved. Everyone works toward one signed agreement. Nobody is building a case for trial.

Your Collaborative Lawyer Withdraws If the Case Cannot Settle

Everyone at the table has a real incentive to reach agreement. If either spouse walks away or the collaboration breaks down entirely, the participation agreement’s disqualification clause takes effect: both attorneys must withdraw. You would each hire new counsel to litigate.

That rule keeps your divorce honest. It also means the only job on your side is a settlement, never a trial.

Your Lawyer Advocates Only for You, Which a Mediator Cannot and a Judge Will Not

Three paths lead to the end of a Connecticut marriage: litigation, divorce mediation, and collaboration. In litigation, a judge decides what you and your spouse can’t. In mediation, one neutral mediator helps you find common ground, but that mediator can’t advocate for either of you. In a collaboration, you keep your own attorney advising and advocating for you, the way you would in litigation, but everyone is working toward a settlement, not a trial. Everyone also commits in writing to a negotiated settlement. That’s the same as mediation.

It sits between the two. You get individual legal advocacy without the courtroom. For couples who want a fair deal but don’t want to rely on one shared neutral to protect their interests, that combination is the draw.

Our Attorneys Negotiate Your Collaborative Divorce With Courtroom Experience Behind Them

Maya Murphy, P.C. has practiced family and divorce law in Connecticut for more than 30 years. Its attorneys are licensed in Connecticut and New York.

A collaboration still benefits from a lawyer who has stood in a courtroom, not just a conference room. Your attorney knows what a judge would actually do with your case. That makes for a sharper negotiator at the table. It also means someone is ready to protect you if collaboration turns out not to be the right fit. Not all divorce lawyers work collaborative cases the same way. Some hand your file to a paralegal after the first meeting.

You keep direct access to your attorney from your first call to your signed agreement.

  • More than 30 years practicing family and divorce law in Connecticut
  • Attorneys licensed in Connecticut and New York
  • Courtroom experience behind every negotiation at the table
  • Direct access to your attorney, first call to signed agreement

Our Collaborative Divorce Lawyers Answer the Questions We Hear First

It depends on how complex your finances are and how many professionals your team needs. Ask about the fee on your first call. Collaboration often costs less than a contested divorce, but not always. You skip discovery, depositions, and court time, which is where litigation bills grow fastest. It is still real money, and your attorney will say so plainly.

You work directly with your attorney, from your first call to your signed agreement. The attorney who takes your case sits at the table with you in every four-way meeting. Collaboration is negotiation in a room. You should know exactly who is negotiating for you, and you should not have to re-explain your marriage every time you call.

Ask how many collaborative cases the lawyer has taken to a signed agreement. Ask whether the lawyer also litigates divorces. A lawyer who knows what a Connecticut judge would do is a sharper negotiator. Ask who else joins your team and what each person adds. Ask what happens to your case, and your fee, if it does not settle.

You talk, your attorney listens, and you leave knowing whether collaboration fits your situation. It is free and confidential, in person in Westport or by Zoom. Bring what you have on your finances, but do not put off the call because your paperwork is not organized yet. There is no obligation to retain anyone that day.

Yes. That is the model, and it is the part that protects you. One lawyer cannot advise both spouses. Your attorney advises only you and negotiates only for you. Your spouse’s attorney does the same on the other side. If someone offers to represent both of you, that is not a collaborative divorce.

Your attorney withdraws, and you hire new counsel to litigate. Every participation agreement carries a disqualification clause, and it applies to both attorneys equally. That rule keeps everyone negotiating in good faith instead of posturing for a trial. Ask your attorney to walk you through the clause before you sign it.

You can do both. Your attorney should explain what each one costs you. Moving from collaboration to mediation or litigation usually means starting over with new agreements, and the disqualification clause means new counsel too. Changing lawyers inside a collaborative case is simpler. Your new attorney signs on to the same participation agreement. Talk the options through before you sign anything, not after.

Collaboration depends on both spouses negotiating honestly and disclosing their finances in full. Tell your attorney on the first call if you are dealing with domestic violence, a spouse who is hiding assets, or a power imbalance you cannot negotiate across. Honest negotiation is not safe in every marriage. Litigation, not collaboration, may be the safer path for you.
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    Talk to a Connecticut Divorce Lawyer About Your Collaborative Options

    You don’t have to choose between fighting and giving up. Collaborative divorce is a real third option for Connecticut couples who want a fair outcome without a courtroom battle. Talk to a Maya Murphy, P.C. Connecticut divorce lawyer about whether collaboration fits your situation, in a free, confidential consultation, in person in Westport or by Zoom.

    or call (203) 221-3100

    Definitions of the terms your collaborative lawyer will use with you, plus the questions that come up most often. This is general information, not legal advice about your case.

    The Words Your Lawyer Will Use, and What They Mean

    Who Your Collaborative Lawyer Works With on Your Case

    • Collaborative attorney: your own lawyer, who advises only you and negotiates only for you, from your first meeting to your signed agreement. Your spouse has their own.
    • Neutral financial professional: a financial professional who works for neither spouse. They value your marital assets and lay out settlement options both of you can see. Your lawyer brings one in when the money is complicated enough to need it.
    • Divorce coach: a mental health professional who keeps communication between spouses workable, particularly around parenting. Worth asking about if the same argument keeps stalling the talks.
    • Child’s advocate: a mental health professional who brings your children’s perspective into parenting discussions, when a case calls for one.

    The Documents Your Lawyer Signs and Drafts

    • Participation agreement: the contract your collaborative lawyer signs alongside you, your spouse, and your spouse’s attorney, committing everyone to settle rather than litigate. Connecticut has not passed a collaborative divorce statute, so this contract is what holds the process together.
    • Disqualification clause: the provision that requires your attorney, and your spouse’s, to withdraw if the case doesn’t settle. Ask to be walked through it before you sign.
    • Four-way meeting: the working session with you, your spouse, and both attorneys at the same table. This is where your lawyer does most of the negotiating for you.
    • Settlement agreement: the final written agreement your attorney drafts and submits to a Connecticut court for entry as your divorce judgment.

    Your Lawyer Negotiates in Private, Not on the Public Record

    • Four-way meetings are private. What you and your attorney say in one isn’t part of any public court record, unlike testimony at a contested divorce trial. Confidentiality is written into the participation agreement your lawyer signs, so ask what it covers before you sign.

    Your Lawyer Explains What Switching Paths Costs You

    • Divorcing spouses sometimes start in mediation and switch to collaboration, or the other way around. Switching paths usually means starting over with new agreements, and the disqualification clause can mean new attorneys too. Ask your lawyer what a switch would cost you before you commit to either path.

    More Questions We Hear Often

    • Is collaborative divorce cheaper than divorce litigation? Often, yes, but not always. You skip formal discovery, depositions, and courtroom time, which is where litigation bills grow fastest. You still pay for your attorney, your spouse’s, and any financial or mental health professional on your team. Ask your lawyer for a cost estimate on your first call.
    • How long does it take to resolve a collaborative divorce? Most collaborative divorces move faster than contested ones, because your attorney isn’t waiting on court dates to move your case forward. Your timeline still depends on how complex your finances are and how quickly you and your spouse reach agreement on each issue.
    • Is a collaborative divorce agreement legally binding? Yes. Once you and your spouse sign, your attorney submits the agreement to a judge to be entered as your divorce judgment. You won’t argue your case in front of that judge, but you do need that signature to make your divorce final.
    • Can collaboration include child custody and child support? Yes. Your attorney and the rest of your team can resolve every issue your divorce touches, from parenting time to property, in the same negotiation.
    • What if my spouse and I only disagree about one or two issues? Collaboration still works. Your attorneys put the negotiating time where the disagreement actually is and leave the settled issues alone.
    • Does Maya Murphy, P.C. handle collaborative divorce cases outside Westport? Yes. Our attorneys represent Connecticut families statewide, not only the Westport area.

    Disclaimer: This page is attorney advertising and provides general information about collaborative divorce in Connecticut. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.