Can You Switch to Collaborative Law After You Start a Divorce?

The simple answer is "Yes"!  

Even if you started by using DIY forms and trying to do your own divorce, you can switch to Collaborative Law by getting Collaborative attorneys for both parties.

A divorce or other family law case can always be changed over from litigation to Collaborative Law at any time before a final order is signed.  That's true whether someone is trying to use some prepared forms without using attorneys or whether both sides have their own attorneys.

What you would need is for both parties to have their own Collaborative Law attorney.  Plus, there would probably need to be some re-orientation for the parties to adjust how they approach the case.  Focusing on needs and interests, rather than using arbitrary percentages or standard schedules, will require some adjustment.

How to get started?  The first requirement is for each party to have a Collaborative attorney.  That means that one or both parties might have to change attorneys.  It is very important to have a trained and experienced Collaborative Law lawyer.

Warning:  Some attorneys will try to get people in to discuss Collaborative Law and then actively discourage using it.  In reality, those attorneys don't do Collaborative cases.  If you go see an attorney who tries to talk you out of using Collaborative Law even though you think you would like to use it, please do yourself a favor and get a second opinion.