Collaborative Divorce Serving Families Throughout McKinney, TX & Surrounding Areas

McKinney Collaborative Divorce Lawyer

Out-of-Court Solutions for Divorce in Collin, Denton, & Dallas Counties, TX

It’s common knowledge that divorce is often stressful and highly emotional. Many decisions about your life and future will involve your children, finances, property and assets, and other details. The impact of these decisions can be long-lasting and life changing. 

Most people associate divorce with court litigation, especially over child custody and the division of marital property and debt. These can be contentious matters, but they don’t have to become a war zone. An alternative route exists to the traditional court process. This alternative is collaborative divorce, a method Petitt Family Law has offered and successfully used for years. 

This is a process where you and your spouse and your respective lawyers work together to reach a mutually beneficial agreement outside of court, in a private space, on your schedule instead of a court’s. The primary objective is to minimize conflict and promote respectful communication, making it easier for everyone involved, especially for children who might be affected. 

Want to learn more? Contact us online or at (469) 716-6893 to schedule a consultation with our McKinney collaborative divorce attorney. 

Overview of the Collaborative Divorce Process

In a collaborative divorce, couples agree to negotiate in good faith, share information honestly, and work towards a fair settlement, considering all family members’ welfare. Every party has a voice, and every concern is considered. The lawyers representing each party must also adhere to specific guidelines prioritizing collaboration over confrontation.

Couples and lawyers sign a "no court" agreement during this process. This agreement means that if the collaborative process does not result in a settlement, the lawyers will withdraw from the case, and the couple will be required to hire new representation for court litigation. This stipulation motivates everyone to commit fully to finding a resolution within the collaborative process.

The process can include outside experts giving you critical information needed to come to settlement terms. These experts can include child specialists, tax consultants, accountants, appraisers, business valuation professionals, and others as needed. 

While the process is conducted outside of court, you still benefit from legal representation. Your lawyer will not engage in hostile behavior towards the other side. Their role is to protect your rights and interests while seeking optimum ways to resolve all issues fairly and equitably. 

The success of the process depends on the commitment of both parties. If the process fails, you and your spouse must proceed through court litigation, starting the cycle anew with a different attorneys. 

Benefits of Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce has many benefits over traditional litigation.

These include:

  • Avoiding adversarial court battles reduces the emotional pain, heartache, and high stress associated with divorce. 
  • Reduces the time and expense of divorce because it is independent of the court process.
  • Provides more privacy as it involves only the marital partners and their lawyers and is not achieved in the public arena of the family court.
  • Generally, shields children from the stress of divorce because it does not involve aggressive courtroom trial behavior.
  • Fosters a more harmonious post-divorce relationship between parties, which is particularly beneficial when children must be co-parented. 
  • Allow customized solutions catering to your family's unique needs and circumstances.
  • Allows you and the other party to remain in control of crucial decisions instead of being subjected to the dictates of a judge.
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Hear From Our Happy Clients

    "Excellent, professional and knowledgeable staff."
    Excellent, professional and knowledgeable staff. Always ready to serve your family law requests.
    - Ross
    "She was an excellent partner through the whole process."
    Melody handled my case with care & logic. She challenged me when I was leading with emotional rather than logic, and understood when she needed to pull back. She was an excellent partner through the whole process, and I have already recommended her to others.
    - Anonymous
    "Melody saved my case."
    When Melody took over my case, it was going nowhere, the previous attorney had done nothing for months but allow opposing counsel to stall, allowing my case to become dormant, luckily that attorney left the firm. When Melody took over she immediately began filing motions, requesting documents that previously had been denied. The outcome of my case was not all I’d hoped for, but Melody made sure I was able to maximize and make the best out of a bad situation. She was always honest, forthright, and meticulous in her handling of the case. She even pushed for the firm to credit my account for work that the previous attorney had not completed. If you want integrity, honesty, and hard work, definitely hire Melody Petitt as your counsel.
    - Tomas
    "Melody and Stacy are a dynamic pair that you can trust to have your best interests in mind always."
    Responsive, efficient, so knowledgeable about the law and what you need to get through the process. Melody and Stacy are a dynamic pair that you can trust to have your best interests in mind always. Love them.
    - Kayti
    "Melody is a great family lawyer."
    Melody and the firm’s staff gave us excellent assistance in our successful effort to gain custodial control of our grandson. She guided us through the process, timely filed all documents and gave us great representation in the court proceedings.
    - Steven
    "Amazing results. My only regret is not hiring her initially several years ago."

    Melody exemplifies everything that I needed in an attorney. She followed through on every aspect of what she said she would do. Along the way, she always kept my interests in mind when following up with the courts and giving me closure. All this in just a few short weeks before closing out the 2020 year during a pandemic.

    In my previous experiences, I’ve always had to chase down my attorney or come up with the solutions on my own. Melody was the exact opposite of that. Replies were very timely, and she came up with solutions prior to discussing with me with any setbacks that would come up.

    My only regret is not hiring her initially several years ago.

    - Anonymous
    "Melody is the attorney who took the bull by the horns."

    You don’t know what you don’t know. However, you do know when something is not working out. With that said, I went through a couple of attorneys before being represented by Melody Petitt and that made all the difference.

    I will start off saying that the divorce process is like a game. And the law is the rule book, which is a constant that does not change. Where the game gets interesting are the players involved, petitioner, respondent and legal team. Every case is unique, yet some attorneys approach the process as if it’s all the same. However, in my case, we were dealing with a high conflict personality; and, it cannot be taken lightly. Unlike my prior attorneys, Melody jumped on my case and took the time to really understand my situation and what we were dealing with. She took the time to educate me on the law and how it applied in my situation, whether it was something I wanted to hear or not. The law is the law. She knew how to deal with the opposing party. Strategy was the key, and she was prepared for anything. She earned my trust and with that trust, she help make this process tolerable. Most importantly, she was able to get my case wrapped up in a timely manner with a desirable outcome. An outcome that would not have been possible otherwise. I highly recommend Melody Petitt.

    - Dai
    "Thank you so much for all of your help! I’m happy I had such an amazing team in my corner!"
    Thank you so much for all of your help! You and your team have been great and a huge help in aiding me to navigate through those difficult times. I’m glad it is finally over and I’m happy I had such an amazing team in my corner!
    - Ben

Why Choose Petitt Family Law?

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    Work with a dedicated law firm with positive reviews from happy clients.
  • 20+ Years of Experience
    Attorney Melody Petitt has over 2 decades of family law experience.
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