Denver's New Out-of-Court Divorce Resource Center Is Part of International Trend

On September 3, the Resource Center for Separating and Divorcing Families at the University of Denver opened its doors to metro-area families. The Center is a model for providing interdisciplinary, out-of-court solutions to separating and divorcing families, which IAALS developed as part of its Honoring Families Initiative. HFI is committed to a comprehensive evaluation of the Center's first three years of operation, to ensure that successes can be replicated and problems remedied. At the end of the evaluation period, we hope to offer this model to jurisdictions and communities across the United States.

The IAALS “out-of-court model” is part of an international trend towards less adversarial separation and divorce processes. For example, in Australia, Family Relationship Centers offer families education, mediation, and counseling services to help them avoid court and litigation, and, in Ireland, a means-tested family mediation pilot is operating to help separating couples resolve issues outside of the court system.

Denver-area couples interested in taking advantage of the Resource Center's services should visit the Center's website for additional information on eligibility and services provided.