Helping people get through the most difficult times of their lives in a way that their friends cannot be of assistance to them is what I like best about being a paralegal. I have worked on separation and divorce cases in the State of Maryland for more than 25 years, and my experience is that the ending of a marriage, whether or not there are children involved, is one of the most difficult times in a person’s life. The added stress of having to enter into a court proceeding on such personally-sensitive matters as infidelity and other maltreatment by a spouse, child custody and visitation issues, spousal and/or child support, division of assets and debts, joint business-ownership concerns, insurance and retirement benefits questions, usually impedes the individuals from feeling that they have any control over the present or the future.
One of the best ways I have seen for separating individuals to feel empowered and optimistic about the changes occurring in their lives is for them to become active participants in their own separation and divorce arrangements. The Collaborative Law Process is designed for this purpose, and I have seen many great successes when this process is used as a framework for separating spouses to resolve child custody, visitation, support, property and other issues. With the help of two attorneys trained in the Collaborative Law process, the parties systematically identify, address and resolve the specific matters that relate to their marriage, separation and divorce, and document their arrangements in a contractual agreement, placing them in the proper position to have their divorce finalized on an uncontested basis with minimal court involvement.
Mary Ellen Flynn of our office is a Montgomery County Collaborative Law attorney who combines her extensive legal knowledge and experience with her Collaborative Law training and her compassionate nature to facilitate superior results in the Collaborative Law setting. She is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and the Collaborative Divorce Association, Inc. and a founding member of the Collaborative Dispute Resolution Professionals, Inc. Over the years, I have received many thanks and appreciation from clients for Ms. Flynn’s instrumental role in getting them and their families back on the road to success after a marital break-up that was resolved through the Collaborative Law process with our office. In my experience, Collaborative Law can be an excellent option for separating parties to gain closure and attain empowerment to happily and effectively move forward with their lives.
Juli Borton, Paralegal
If you have questions about the collaborative law process or other areas of family law please do not hesitate to contact Juli Borton or Mary Ellen Flynn via email, or by calling 301-563-6685.