According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average woman's family income drops by 37% after divorce. Do you know what assets or how much alimony or child support you are entitled to receive? Has your spouse threatened to leave you penniless? Have you spoken to an attorney and gotten sticker-shock? Do you earn too much money to qualify for free legal aid? This book was written to help the low- and moderate-income women the legal system has abandoned by walking a hypothetical self-represented woman step-by-step through the divorce process, including:
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-- How to prepare financially to stand on your own two feet;
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-- What the court can, and cannot do for you;
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-- 'Legwork' that can save you money on legal fees and help you get a better outcome;
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-- How much child support and alimony you might be entitled to receive;
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-- Custody disputes ... 'fatal flaws' and how you can fix them.
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-- How to show a judge that your spouse is lying about their assets and income;
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-- What property you are entitled to receive ... and should ask for;
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-- Ways vindictive ex-spouses can hide money ... and how to prove they are lying;
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-- Real life dirty tricks, traps, and pitfalls highlighted so you can avoid them;
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-- How to find a good attorney (if you can afford one), save money on legal fees, or combine "a la carte" legal advice with your own efforts if you can't afford to hire a full-service attorney;
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-- Mediation and court-connected Alternative Dispute Resolution ... benefits and pitfalls;
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-- How to dig up information your spouse doesn't want you to know (discovery) like an attorney;
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-- Common court forms and how to fill them out;
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-- Separation Agreements dissected and clarified; including two blank fill-in-the form boilerplates which you can download and use in your own divorce;
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-- Sample discovery requests and motions - we'll dissect each motion and show what information you can use it to get;
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-- Sample hearing scripts for common court hearings (including Restraining Order hearings, Temporary Order hearings, Custody Dispute hearings, Contempt hearings, and parts of a mock-Trial);
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-- Restraining orders ... how to get one ... how to keep one;
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Filled with helpful examples of common court forms and legal pleadings, this book will introduce you to everything you NEVER wanted to know about divorce ... but need to come up to speed ... FAST!!! This is the only self-help legal book written by a woman who was once in your shoes who later went back to school to become an attorney!
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The 6th Edition has been completely updated with the latest case law, including ways to sensitively handle a Christian divorce, caveats regarding same-sex couple custody disputes post-Obergefell, and a completely rewritten Separation Agreement chapter with suggested clauses for unusual situations such as extraordinary school fees, private school or homeschooling.