In fact, Canada, as much as the US, is in the vanguard of collaborative family law development.

But that’s beside the point. Here in the UK, the practice has developed in its own way, to meet the British requirement. It is true – the process does eliminate the macho adversarial approach which may have typified divorce some twenty years ago. That’s a good thing. Don’t dismiss it as “touchy feely”.

Instead, acknowledge that it is in response to the significant proportion of divorcing couples who want to see fairness, and who recognise that emotional welfare has its place alongside financial welfare when marriages break down.