Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce - 11th Edition by Emily Doskow (Paperback)

About the Book

If you are going to choose only one book to read as you navigate your divorce, choose Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce. The book helps readers avoid conflict while protecting their financial situation and their relationships with their children. It is thorough, easy to read, and updated with the most current information.

Book Synopsis

A Legal Roadmap for Your Divorce

This book explains the divorce process, from knowing how to file or answer a divorce petition to figuring out how to divide assets and debts and share parenting time. The author gives particular consideration to finding ways out of conflict that impose the least amount of emotional damage, particularly to children. It includes suggestions for dealing with various roadblocks.

This book explains:

• how the legal divorce process works and how to get through it in the least damaging way possible for yourself and your children


• how divorce mediation can help you reach fair agreements about custody, property, and support


• where to find the state-specific forms and information you'll need, along with more do-it-yourself resources


• how to get help from a lawyer without losing control of the process, and


• how to prepare a settlement agreement to document what you and your spouse decide about property, custody, and support.

Throughout this book, one theme is constant: it's to everyone's benefit, and especially children's benefit, to make a divorce as civil as possible. Avoiding fighting now will make life easier later. There are other important benefits as well, such as saving thousands in legal fees and getting a better night's sleep.

This book is intended to be a legal companion to those going through divorce, providing practical and supportive advice and information along the way, and helping them through the process.

Review Quotes

"Anyone faced with divorce needs to run, not walk, to Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce..."MBR Bookwatch

"In this well organized and easy to read book, readers can find succinct, practical answers to all the tough questions about divorce." Attorney Katherine E. Stoner, Author of Divorce Without Court

"...the author can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in legal fees." Hillary Hyde, MSW, www.gooddivorcebooks.com

"With approximately half of all marriages in American ending in divorce, "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" is a critically important addition to every community library collection, and vitally necessary reading for any man or woman contemplating or entering a divorce who is seeking to make the legal process as simple, inexpensive, and conflict-free as possible. Drawing upon her years of experience and expertise, family law attorney Emily Doskow deftly explains how to make divorce less painful by helping the reader: understand the divorce process; minimize day-to-day conflict with your spouse; work with lawyers or mediators without breaking the bank; avoid costly, exhausting court battles; and to stay calm and make good decisions. Fully updated with the latest state rules on divorce, "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" covers all legal rights and options and how to tackle the tough issues, including: child support; child custody; alimony; dividing property, including pensions and real estate; and drafting a marital settlement agreement. Of special note is how well "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" is written, organized and presented, making it fully accessible for the non-specialist general reader. The Midwest Book Review, James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief

Author Comment: Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce is for everyone who wants to be informed and empowered while going through the challenging process of a divorce. Knowledge is power, and there is a lot to know about divorce laws and rules, as well as the different ways to handle a divorce. Whether they ultimately choose to do mediation, use a collaborative process, or use an attorney to negotiate or litigate, my hope is that readers will feel like full participants in the process, and will feel confident that they are making informed decisions.