After spending the day listening and interacting with Victoria Smith and Laurie Stein, attendees of their fantastic presentation to the South Palm Beach Collaborative practice group were asked to share their takeaways.
Most of my Collaborative colleagues found the Proactive and Responsive Tools to be a great takeaway.
Included in their presentation were excellent descriptions of the role of the neutral financial professional. “A neutral financial professional will assist the team with the financial aspects of the parties’ family law matter.” That description is followed by a laundry list of financial duties that are typically ascribed to the financial professional.
However, my big takeaway was one of their Powerpoint slides titled “Roles of the Neutral.” While this slide was mostly directed at the neutral MHP it is my belief that the slide really speaks to the role of both neutrals.
- Role of the Neutral
- Manage the systems: the clients, the children and the team
- Bring all voices to the table
- Initiate and facilitate difficult conversations – putting the elephant in the room
- Help understand conflict stories and nurture new stories
- Support helpful advocacy
Most forensic accountants perform the laundry list of duties every day in their work. The better professionals are exceptionally good at explaining and educating the parties about the financial issues. But a really good Collaborative Financial Neutral also performs the duties listed in the slide. We should be mindful of the family systems and what role the financial neutral can play in helping break those systems that are preventing settlement. Some of the most difficult issues in a divorce are financial. The financial neutral must help to initiate and facilitate those conversations.
Despite popular belief, Collaborative financial neutrals have as big of a paradigm shift as the other professionals. As a forensic accountant our opinion and expertise are paramount. We prepare schedules applying the law and our client’s needs and wants. Our role is to present the facts, express our opinions and present the Court with our conclusions of how the case should settle. In the Collaborative process we must make the shift to educator and advisor. We must constantly remember that what we think only matters if it serves the interest of both parties. Our role now includes those things listed in the slide. In the Collaborative process we are not just bean counters!
Edward S. Sachs is the President of My Collaborative Team. Ed Sachs is the Immediate Past President of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals (FACP). Ed Sachs has worked both traditional and collaborative divorce for over 35 years and travels throughout the state of Florida.
Thank you, Ed for your insightful takeaway. I love Victoria and Laurie’s topic of The Interplay of Advocacy and Neutrality; it is a rich one!
Over the years, in many jurisdictions, the role of the Neutral has evolved into what now encompasses both financial and mhp professionals; and in the two-coach model, the financial professional fills the Neutral role.
One way I like to view Roles of The Neutral is to consider it as an umbrella topic with financial professionals and MHPs under the overarching umbrella. What’s common and what’s unique to each profession and role? in some case, there may be other neutral professionals not on the core team such as Business Valuator or Appraiser.
As a financial professional, I find that when I am one of two neutrals, the pre-planning and debrief communication become crucial to the success of the meetings.
As you mentioned Ed, being mindful of and talking about the family systems and what role the Financial Neutral plays in helping to keep the case moving forward and/or to help break impasse is key.
– Cathy Daigle, CFP, CDFA – San Francisco/Monterey Bay, CA. Cathy Daigle, LLC