Petitioner / Respondent — a.k.a. “who filed” and “who got served” The petitioner is the spouse who files first. The respondent is the other one — you’re responding to a case, not starting one. It’s just who went first; it doesn’t put either person ahead or behind.
Joint petition Filing together to end the marriage, instead of one spouse suing the other. Common in collaborative divorce — it sets the tone that this is a shared problem to solve, not a war.
Participation agreement The document everyone signs at the start of a collaborative case — both spouses and both lawyers. Its core promises: settle this out of court, be fully (and sworn) transparent, and don’t take advantage of the other side’s honest mistakes.
Collaborative Family Law Act Texas’s statute that actually defines collaborative divorce and how it works — what the participation agreement has to do, the duty to disclose, the rule that the lawyers withdraw if it goes to court. Short version: collaborative is a real legal process the state spelled out on purpose, not a loose label anyone can claim.
Attorney-client privilege The rule that keeps what you tell your own lawyer private and confidential. You keep it in a collaborative divorce, same as any other — going collaborative does not mean your lawyer shares your private conversations. Their job just shifts from fighting to helping you reach a fair agreement.
The disqualification rule The heart of collaborative. If the process breaks down and anyone heads to court, both collaborative lawyers are off the case — they can’t take it to the courthouse. It’s what stops your lawyer from profiting if the deal falls apart, so everyone’s pulling toward an agreement. (More in what happens if it doesn’t work?)
Financial neutral A money professional who works for the process, not for either spouse. Their job is to build one honest picture of what you own and owe, so you’re both negotiating from the same real numbers.
Facilitator (or “process facilitator”) A trained mental-health professional whose job in the room is not therapy — it’s keeping the conversation productive and stopping any one person from steamrolling the other.
Sworn inventory — making everyone “show everything” A list, signed under oath, of everything each of you owns and owes. “Under oath” is the part with teeth: it’s not a casual rundown, and hiding something on it carries real penalties.
Community property vs. separate property — “what’s ours” vs. “what’s mine” Texas generally treats what you acquired during the marriage as community property (“ours”) and what you brought in, or were given or inherited, as separate (“mine”). How any specific thing gets classified can get complicated fast — that’s a real lawyer question, not a one-line answer.
Alimony — the legal terms are “spousal maintenance” or “spousal support” Ongoing payments from one ex-spouse to the other after the divorce. Almost everyone calls it “alimony.” Texas is cautious about it — there are real limits on when a court will order it and for how long — so whether it’s even on the table in your case is a specific lawyer question, not a given.
Conservatorship — what most people just call “custody” Texas’s legal word for the rights and duties of a parent — roughly what TV calls “custody.” It’s about decision-making and time with the kids, and it doesn’t map neatly onto the “custody” you’ve heard about.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) An umbrella term for ways of settling things outside a courtroom. Mediation is one kind; collaborative divorce is another.
Mediation (vs. collaborative) Mediation is usually one neutral person, often near the end, pushing two sides to a deal — frequently in a single long day. Collaborative is your own lawyer beside you from the start, working through the whole thing in shorter meetings. (Full comparison in what collaborative divorce actually is.)