Comedian Williams Applauded for Happy Divorce pledge

Happy Feet or a song and dance? A leading collaborative lawyer based in the heartland of expensive divorce territory has applauded comedian Robin Williams’ pledge to go through a “respectful” collaborative divorce.

Maria Taylor of Cheshire law firm SAS Daniels says that it may be no laughing matter, but actor and comedian Robin Williams and his wife Marsha have at least promised happy divorce proceedings – in stark contrast to the Mills-McCartney song and dance.

“The Williams have agreed to a collaborative law process for their divorce, which is the way it can and should be for virtually every separation,” said Maria Taylor.

“As we saw in the case of Heather Mills’ endeavours to battle out a settlement with Sir Paul McCartney, some divorce proceedings can get enormously and unnecessarily vitriolic, because they’re more about ego wars than peace-making.

“On the face of it there can surely be no more fragile or volatile an ego than a Hollywood star – but Robin Williams and his wife Marsha have demonstrated that divorce can have dignity.”

Collaborative law is a relatively new approach used by family lawyers to manage the divorce process wherein both parties agree to reach settlement without the courts’ involvement.

“With the high net worth of many Cheshire and South Manchester residents there is potential for some massive – and massively expensive – settlements, with highly paid legal teams battling out not just for money, but, dangerously, for pride,” said Maria Taylor.

“There is no doubt that going to court can not only cost a great deal more than is necessary, but taking that path could antagonise the judiciary as taking court action in such circumstances can sometimes be seen as wasting valuable time when the courts are already extremely busy.

“There are no winners from a divorce, and a protracted legal action can get painful, very personal and extremely expensive. A divorce involving people in the public eye is inevitably inflamed by the media, so the communication processes must be carefully considered.

“Speaking face-to-face is the only way to deal with the situation. Emails and texts between individuals can be misconstrued because there is no opportunity for crucial and potentially massively impactful intonation, and in recent years we have seen high-profile divorces becoming ever-more acrimonious because of the amount of debate going on via the media,” said Maria Taylor.

“Divorces, although sad, needn’t be acrimonious to the point where a court’s time is required, and at SAS Daniels we aim to negotiate a settlement to avoid court action.”

Maria Taylor is a member of Resolution and The Law Society Family Law Panel. Maria is a fully qualified Collaborative Lawyer and has practiced in this area since 2005. This is a specialist service offered by only a few solicitors in the whole of the Greater Manchester and surrounding areas. Maria specialises in most areas of family work, including divorce, financial provision, private law, Children Act matters and cohabitation disputes. She is experienced in dealing with complex, high-value Ancillary Relief claims and complicated Children Act cases, both in the County Court and at High Court level.

SAS Daniels has offices in Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton, Bramhall and Chester.

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Further information:

Iain Macauley or Megan Codling

07788 978800 / 07795 848586

im@pressrelations.co.uk / mc@pressrelations.co.uk / www.sasdaniels.co.uk

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Further information: Iain Macauley or Megan Codling 07788 978800 / 07795 848586 im@pressrelations.co.uk / mc@pressrelations.co.uk / www.sasdaniels.co.uk