About half of all American marriages end in divorce. Last year, Maryland residents and others nationwide contributed to the 800,000 married couples who filed for the legal separation, confirming the fact that nearly half of the 2 million Americans who marry each year are headed to the courtroom. While some of these breakups are adversarial, an increasing number of couples are looking to complete their property division and child custody decisions in a collaborative fashion. New technology is actually allowing couples to perform most of their divorce processes online, working together to craft their divorce agreement out of court.
This innovative program, known as Wevorce, aims to minimize the stress and discomfort of divorce by making the process faster, simpler and less expensive. The program’s creators emphasize that family members go through divorce together, so a cleaner break is often more beneficial.
The computer-based service provides a complete divorce package for about 30 percent of the two-attorney litigation process. The six-step process includes planning for the divorce, co-parenting strategies, parenting agreements, financial planning and finalizing the divorce settlement.
Wevorce has a simple and revolutionary structure. It requires couples to meet with a mediator together for an initial consultation rather than bringing ideas to the table with their individual attorneys. The legal system should be a collaborative process, according to the program’s creators, rather than a fight for property rights and other benefits.
Although the program is still small, the client base appears to be growing as the technology becomes more popular. Attorneys are given more time to work face-to-face with their clients because paperwork becomes more automated and easier. Wevorce can also help families navigate the divorce process over a distance, making it one of the most versatile tools in the divorce world today.
Couples seeking easier approaches to the divorce process could consider alternative methods like collaborative law and technological tools. Consult with a collaborative law professional to find out more about your legal options.
Source: forbes.com, “Can this Y-Combinator startup’s technology keep couples out of divorce court?” Jeff Landers, April 10, 2013
