by Whitney R. Lonker, Wood, Atter & Wolf, P.A.
wlonker@woodatter.com
In my family and divorce law practice in Jacksonville, Florida, I get many cases that I feel are ripe for dissolving the marriage in a collaborative setting. Collaborative law encourages the use of financial professionals and mental health professionals early in the negotiations to help reach an amicable, fair solution for dissolving the marriage and for dividing the assets of the parties. However, some people get nervous when the term mental health professional is mentioned. The mental health professionals (MHP) role is not to analyze the parties or to perform therapy on the parties or the children. The MHP is a neutral third party whose job is to keep the parties focused on the objectives of the negotiations, to manage emotions and to facilitate communication. Please call our firm for advice on dissolution of marriage, child support, child custody, settlement agreements, postnuptial agreements, grandparent rights, alimony and division of property issues.