Mitsuyama and Rebman is very excited about the possibilities in collaborative divorce for saving time and money and allowing the parties control over their divorce.
The Collaborative Divorce model allows you and your spouse to resolve your legal disputes with the help of attorneys, a collaboratively-trained mediator, and, as needed, other professionals such as financial and child specialists. All involve pledge to work toward reaching a settlement without judicial involvement. This is steps beyond the mediation process, because with mediation, one can opt out at any time and proceed straight to court, and with the Collaborative Divorce model, the attorneys cannot take the case to court.
Hawaii enacted the Hawaii Uniform Collaborative Law Act in 2012. Collaborative Divorce is used worldwide and has been a preferred model in other parts of the United States for twenty-plus years. It provides the parties not only with control over their own decisions but with privacy and with control over the schedule of their divorce and custody cases.
Collaborative Divorce is not limited to any set of factors. You do not need to trust your spouse to enter into the process - this is not just a "feel good" process but one designed to get to the bottom line in a way that should save money over the litigation option, and most of all, allow the parties to retain control over their lives and be ready to move forward.
Hawaii has not embraced Collaborative Divorce and it is not commonly used here. It can be a difficult concept to put faith into, but it has worked well elsewhere and generally costs about 75% of the cost of a litigated divorce.
Three M & R attorneys are certified in Collaborative Divorce and belong to the Maui Collaborative Practice Group, and have attended additional training. Ms. Rebman belongs to the IACP, International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
A few links:
http://www.divorcenet.com/resources/divorce/divorce-mediation/mediation-vs-collaboration-factors-con
https://www.collaborativepractice.com
http://www.collaborativedivorce.net/cost-litigation-vs-collaborative-divorce/