Clarity Family Law

Sometimes called "prenups"

If you and your former spouse have reached an agreement on all legal issues after separation, you can apply for an order for divorce on an uncontested basis.

If you have separated from your spouse and you do not agree on some or all of the legal issues, you can start a court action to resolve the outstanding issues.

You can hire a lawyer-coach to help you effectively represent yourself.

The lawyer-coach provides behind-the-scenes guidance to the client who is representing themself in their legal matter. The client and lawyer maintain an ongoing relationship for the duration of the legal matter.

The client performs the legal work with regularly scheduled sessions where the lawyer provides information, support, and accountability.

You choose the specific parts to hire a lawyer to do for you, and which parts you will do yourself. Unbundling is an alternative to traditional legal representation. You can develop a budget and spend your money on the tasks you need the most help with, and save money on the tasks you can do yourself.

Examples of unbundled legal services: uncontested or “desk order” divorces, preparing court documents, ghostwriting settlement offers to opposing counsel, preparing separation agreements and pre-nuptial agreements, calculating child support and spousal support, assisting with financial reviews for child and spousal support; and providing independent legal advice for separation agreements and pre-nuptial agreements.

Legal advice and preparation for mediation on your unresolved legal issues. You can choose your lawyer's level of involvement, from helping you prepare to attend the mediation on your own, or hiring your lawyer to represent you during the mediation.

If your spouse's lawyer has prepared a Separation Agreement, Cohabitation Agreement, or Marriage Agreement, you will need to see a lawyer to get your own legal advice about the fairness of that agreement before signing.

In an independent legal advice appointment, the lawyer will review the separation agreement with you to make sure you understand what your rights and obligations are and whether the agreement is fair. Once you have reviewed it with your lawyer, you can decide whether you want to sign it.

In many cases, the lawyer will also sign a "Certificate of Independent Legal Advice" to show that they reviewed the agreement with you, that you understand what you are signing, and that you wanted to sign the agreement of your own free will.