Besides the overall fear, anxiety, sadness (anger) and emotional rollercoaster that a divorce can bring on it can much worse during litigation process with each side arming themselves with costly lawyers that more often than not, drags on a divorce process and creates a hostile environment. Especiall...y when children are involved, this type of divorce litigation is by nature designed to cause extreme emotional and financial harm. I had the unfortunate experience of going through a divorce recently and I was very scared, uninformed and emotionally drained. I spoke with several “divorce” attorneys who believed that the best course of action is the one that would cause the most harm to my spouse both financially and emotionally. I quickly realized how this approach would also cost both of us any chance of an amicable future relationship along with an incredible amount of money; money that was ours and money that we had set aside for our children. It was sickening to think of what could have happened if I had not found Attorney Harold Brienes and learned about the Collaborative Divorce Process of which he is an expert. Harold told me from the first day I met him that the hopes at the end of this process was that I would be able to “dance with my x-spouse at my daughter’s wedding”, -that we would remain friends and we would both walk away from this collaborative divorce process feeling that there were no “losers” and neither side felt the other got a better deal than the other. Harold talks about “Resolving Disputes Respectively” and he created and nurtured the most respectful, caring and thoughtful divorce process well beyond my expectations. We talked about my children, we talked about my spouse and we talked about me and what I expected from all of this. Feelings became expectations and expectations became my goals for a divorce that was fair to both parties. More so, I did not want my spouse, my children or I to suffer emotionally anymore than we already were feeling. Actually, my hope was that Harold would find ways to soften the emotional elements that make traditional divorce litigation so often cruel and mean towards each other. Well, I can emphatically say that in terms of a divorce, mine went as well as a divorce could possibly go and that is truly the result of this amazing and kind gentleman, Attorney Harold Brienes. Actually, it went well beyond my expectations. Today, I am dear friends with my x-spouse, something I did not think possible. The collaborative divorce process left both my x-spouse and I feeling that neither of us came out of the divorce unfairly in terms of the financial asset divisions. I suppose most important to both my x-spouse and I was that our children did not suffer. Our desire was to display “kindness, respect and integrity” during the divorce towards each other and we learned these very lessons from Harold. No one truly walks away from a divorce feeling joy. It’s sad no matter what the situation might be. However, with an attorney like Harold Brienes, one can walk away from a divorce feeling that no one suffered unfairly, that kindness and respect ruled the process and that I can indeed “dance at my daughter’s wedding with my x-spouse”. That is truly the miracle that attorney Harold Brienes created and nourished. I highly recommend Harold and you are free to call me personally for additional information about Harold at 203.414.1559.