There are some fantastic resources out there for people going through a divorce, but people don’t always know they are there.  The DC Spotlight on series brings them to your attention.  This time: Advicenow.

How can Advicenow help you?

Advicenow is an award-winning website best known for its user-friendly guides that provide practical help on how to manage and resolve life’s legal problems, like divorce and splitting up.

Ending a relationship is an extremely difficult time, with so much to sort and agree, and all when agreements are particularly hard to come by.  So Advicenow create survival guides that help provide the legal knowledge and practical skills you need to help ensure things go as smoothly as possible. As many people can’t afford legal advice or want to use legal help only sparingly, Advicenow aim to make sure they get the most for their money and feel empowered in a process that often leaves people overwhelmed.

No matter where you are in the process, there is a guide to help.

• The Survival guide to divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership breaks down how divorce works, what you can expect, what you need to think about, how to come to agreements and what help is out there to plan for your future.
• The Survival guide to sorting out arrangements for your children aims to help you find ways to agree arrangements between you that work well for everybody, without having to go to court.If you have just split up with your children’s other parent and are having to make arrangements for the first time, or if you have been parenting apart for years and now need to come up with a new plan, this guide will help.
• The Survival guide to using Family Mediation after a break up is for people struggling to make agreements with their ex-partner on how to live apart. It tells you everything you need to know about how mediation works, how much it costs, and how to find a good service.
• The Survival guide to sorting out your finances when you get divorced helps you work out a fair way to divide your money and property, without having to go to court, by working out what a judge might order in a case like yours.

“This is hugely helpful… what seemed really daunting to start with now feels manageable. …I read this just before going to mediation with my ex and felt much better prepared and calmer.”

Comment from Advicenow user

Sometimes, going to court is unavoidable. In this case, a series of step-by-step guides and films are available to help make the scary prospect of going through this with little or no legal help, much less intimidating and overwhelming. These cover applying for a divorce, a financial order, a child arrangements order and parental responsibility. Most guides are in written form, but there are also films showing you how to fill in your financial statement(Form E), and giving you some simple tips for representing yourself in family court.

“Sorting out family separation and for example child care arrangements is emotionally draining enough as it is. The fact that the legal system and legal institutions seem complicated, bureaucratic and impenetrable add to this feeling. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the guides have felt like a ‘god send’.”

Comment from Advicenow user

What do Advicenow say?

“Advicenow has always been dedicated to improving the quality of law-related information available for the public. Over the last twelve years we have developed and tested methods for producing genuinely effective information, and our work is known for being as helpful and user-friendly as possible. Our guides focus not just on explaining the law, but helping you develop the skills to use that knowledge.  We start from your poit of view and address the issues you need to deal with, in the order you need to deal with them.  Our resources also take into account the stress and emotions legal situations can invoke by, for example, addressing common worries.”

“It helped so much. I had to do my own divorce, borrowing money to pay my court fees and even for parking to attend court….After doing my own non molestation orders, I needed the support this gave “

Comment from Advicenow user

What do we say?

If you’re going through a divorce or separation and need some information to help you through the legal maze, it’s worth checking out these in-depth and user-friendly guides full of practical information.