After seeing his best friend’s extremely messy divorce in 2011, Jim Halfens thought there had to be a better way to do divorce. Seven years later, Jim’s now the CEO of his own divorce business, DivorceHotel, a concept he developed in the Netherlands and has experienced success in the US and UK markets. Halfens now has plans to expand DivorceHotel into Australia in 2019.
The concept is simple. A couple checks into the hotel (in two separate rooms), and are supplied with all the professional support they need to arrange a divorce, such as a lawyer, mediator, financial advisor and therapists under the one roof.
Within 48 hours the couple can have the nitty-gritty details of the divorce finalised and be on their way worry-free. Being away from outside distractions and responsibilities such as childcare, cooking, groceries, and other extraneous life chores means the couple can focus solely on getting their new lives sorted.
Additionally, DivorceHotel can speed up the process of a divorce, which, when both parties have lawyers that are shuffling papers and proposals back and forth, can take months to finalise. DivorceHotel expedites that whole process by having all parties nut it out over a weekend.
Acoording to the DivorceHotel website, what you can expect from the company is:
“DivorceHotel is the international founder of ‘Divorcing in a positive way’. We regard your separation not only as the end of your marriage but, importantly, the beginning of a new phase in your life.”
“If you decide to divorce, we can help you to do so quickly, skillfully and affordably, in a way that suits you best. All solutions are based on our ‘hotel philosophy’ which means that everything takes place on neutral territory, in a relaxed environment with all kinds of comforts and facilities at your disposal. We will never treat you as a client but rather as a VIP guest. Allow us to serve you, and to support you, in settling your divorce in as positive a way as possible.”
Psychologist Sharon Draper told the Sydney Morning Herald that a “weekend divorce” could help “soften the blow” of divorce.
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