You don't have to figure this out alone. FairWell guides separating couples through the process, with the structure, information, and documents they need, at a fraction of what a lawyer would charge.
Most couples don't have truly complex legal disputes. They have an information problem, arriving unprepared, unorganized, and billed from the moment they sit down. Separation is already hard enough. The process shouldn't make it worse.
| Route | Cost per spouse | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Contested litigation | $15K – $100K+ | 1–3 years |
| Collaborative divorce | $8K – $25K | 6–18 months |
| Mediation | $3K – $10K | 3–12 months |
| FairWell + lawyer review | $500 – $2,000 | Days to weeks |
Based on Canadian and US averages. Costs vary by jurisdiction and complexity.
Most options are either too expensive or too bare-bones. FairWell sits in the gap.
Template sites hand you a blank form. FairWell works through your situation with you, flags gaps, and produces documents a lawyer can actually sign off on.
We handle preparation, not advice. Your lawyer does less busywork and more of what only they can do. That's how you get good legal work done for a fraction of the cost.
Province-specific and state-specific documents. Ontario family law is different from California family law. We handle both correctly, not with a generic template that's nobody's jurisdiction.
Four core products. From financial disclosure through signed agreement.
Separation agreement, parenting plan, and co-parenting communication agreement, all three, fully integrated and built from your actual terms.
Property division, spousal support, and financial obligations. Province and state-specific. Drafted from your inputs, not a generic template.
Co-parenting schedule, decision-making framework, and holiday arrangements. Reduces conflict by giving both parties clear written terms.
Know exactly what you own, owe, and need to disclose. Organized into the format lawyers and courts expect, before you pay a lawyer to do it.
Plus prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, ILA prep, coaching, and more. View all products →
FairWell sits in front of the legal system not replacing lawyers, but reducing how much of them you need before you get there.
Structured intake covering your situation, finances, parenting arrangements, and goals. 15–20 minutes. Used to generate everything that follows.
A full separation roadmap, financial snapshot, communication guidance, and professional referrals, built around your specific situation and goals.
Both partners complete intake independently. FairWell's specialists draft a full separation agreement from your actual terms. Disputed items are flagged for professional resolution.
A local family lawyer in your province or state reviews the document and confirms jurisdiction-specific requirements. FairWell's ILA Prep Package cuts this meeting in half.
A signed, witnessed agreement that reflects your actual terms. For divorce, FairWell's filing assistance guides you through the court process.
"We'd been talking about separating for two years. Just talking. The paperwork felt impossible, the lawyers felt expensive, and we kept avoiding it. I finally did the assessment one afternoon. Three weeks later we had a signed agreement. I genuinely don't know why I waited so long."
"My brother went through a divorce in Texas three years ago. He spent $60,000. I spent $1,200. Same state, similar situation. FairWell is the difference. I'm not exaggerating."
"I thought ours was going to get ugly. At first it did. But having all the numbers organized before we got to a lawyer changed the whole dynamic. Less to fight about because less to speculate about. We still argued, about the actual terms, not made-up ones."
"Nobody helps you understand how lonely this process feels. You're making the biggest decisions of your life mostly alone. FairWell wasn't a therapist, but having structure made everything feel less like chaos. Just knowing what comes next made it manageable."
"22 years. Three kids. Two properties. A business. I was terrified of what this was going to cost. We used FairWell to organize everything first. What felt impossibly complicated became something we could actually talk about. Still hard. But manageable."
"My lawyer said our agreement was one of the cleanest she'd reviewed in years. No gaps, no ambiguous language, nothing for opposing counsel to pick apart. She did a 90-minute review and we were done. FairWell is why."
"We had a parenting dispute that was heading somewhere expensive. FairWell gave us a framework to work within instead of a blank page. That structure reduced the conflict. We still needed a mediator for two specific issues, but two, not twenty."
"The clients I see who've prepared through FairWell are in a different category. The agreement's drafted. Financials are organized. They've already worked through the hard decisions and know what they actually want. I've closed files in one session that normally take months of back-and-forth. I started referring people here myself."
"We ended things respectfully. We still needed it in writing and didn't want to spend thousands to make something official we'd basically already agreed on. FairWell handled everything in a weekend. No drama, no lawyers billing by the hour."
"My attorney quoted $450 an hour. I knew I needed her for the sign-off, not for the parts FairWell already handled. I came in with every financial document organized, the agreement drafted, specific questions prepared. Two hours total. Worth every dollar."
"I wasn't just looking for documents. I needed someone to walk me through this. FairWell felt like having a knowledgeable friend who knew what questions to ask, in what order, and what actually mattered. When everything felt overwhelming, I had something to come back to."
"18 months in and we haven't missed a single handoff. No disputes, no court, no lawyers after the initial sign-off. We built the co-parenting plan through FairWell and it actually works for our lives. I didn't think that was possible when we started."
"My sister used FairWell six months before I did. When I called her during my separation she said: 'Start here, before you call a lawyer.' She was right. I saved over $12,000 compared to what I'd been quoted. It's the first thing I tell anyone going through this."
"We had a grain farm, equipment, and land that had been in my family for 30 years. I was terrified the process was going to tear that apart. The Financial Disclosure Package helped us both see the numbers clearly, without either of us feeling ambushed. We reached an agreement we can both live with."
"Two years together, no kids, no mortgage. I assumed it would be simple. It wasn't, we had shared debt, joint accounts, and a lease. FairWell made it feel proportionate to the actual situation rather than turning a short marriage into a year-long legal ordeal."
"We went to mediation twice before we found FairWell. Both sessions cost us over $2,000 and went nowhere because we were both completely unprepared. The Mediation Prep Package changed that entirely. Third session, we had a full agreement. I wish I'd known about it sooner."
"Our communication had completely broken down by the time we separated. Every conversation turned into an argument. The co-parenting communication framework gave us rules we'd both agreed to in writing, and suddenly the handoffs stopped being battlegrounds. My kids noticed the difference first."
"I had my ILA appointment booked and no idea what I was walking into. The ILA Prep Package was exactly what I needed. I understood every clause before I sat down, had my questions ready, and was done in 45 minutes. My lawyer said I was the most prepared client she'd had in months."
"I was the lower-earning spouse in a 14-year marriage. I didn't understand what I was entitled to, and I was scared my ex would take advantage of that. The Decision Support Report told me exactly what the law said, clearly, without jargon, before I ever called a lawyer. That changed everything."
"I had three Strategy Sessions over two months. My coach helped me think through the pension split, the house sale timing, and how to approach conversations with my ex about the kids' school. Not therapy. Not legal advice. Just clear, structured thinking with someone who knew the territory."
"I'm a nurse. I work nights, I have two kids, and I was going through a separation. I had zero time and zero energy. FairWell let me do everything at my own pace, in small pieces, whenever I had 20 minutes. No appointments. No pressure. It felt like something that was built for real life."
"We'd been talking about separating for two years. Just talking. The paperwork felt impossible, the lawyers felt expensive, and we kept avoiding it. I finally did the assessment one afternoon. Three weeks later we had a signed agreement. I genuinely don't know why I waited so long."
"My brother went through a divorce in Texas three years ago. He spent $60,000. I spent $1,200. Same state, similar situation. FairWell is the difference. I'm not exaggerating."
"I thought ours was going to get ugly. At first it did. But having all the numbers organized before we got to a lawyer changed the whole dynamic. Less to fight about because less to speculate about."
"Nobody helps you understand how lonely this process feels. FairWell wasn't a therapist, but having structure made everything feel less like chaos. Just knowing what comes next made it manageable."
"22 years. Three kids. Two properties. A business. What felt impossibly complicated became something we could actually talk about. Still hard. But manageable."
"My lawyer said our agreement was one of the cleanest she'd reviewed in years. She did a 90-minute review and we were done. FairWell is why."
"The clients I see who've prepared through FairWell are in a different category. Agreement drafted. Financials organized. I've closed files in one session that normally take months. I started referring people here myself."
"18 months in and we haven't missed a single handoff. No disputes, no court, no lawyers. We built the co-parenting plan through FairWell and it works."
"My sister used FairWell six months before I did. She was right. I saved over $12,000. It's the first thing I tell anyone going through this."
"We had a grain farm and land in the family for 30 years. The Financial Disclosure Package helped us both see the numbers clearly, without either of us feeling ambushed. We reached an agreement we can both live with."
"I had three Strategy Sessions over two months. Not therapy. Not legal advice. Just clear, structured thinking with someone who knew the territory. Worth every dollar."
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Start with a 15-minute assessment. Get a personalized roadmap, financial snapshot, and professional referrals before you spend anything on a lawyer.
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