New website aims to reduce huge cost of divorce by ditching lawyers and helping couples go it alone

One father spoke about losing his kids’ inheritance if he went down the legal path after separation, describing the family court system as “broken”.

Divorce is ugly enough, but for some couples being slapped with a legal bill of up to $1 million each is a shocking reality in Australia.

Couples looking to settle a dispute about their kids and property are routinely hit with legal costs more than $300,000 and even up to $1 million each, particularly in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, a report from the Australian Law Reform Commission found.

Dad-of-three Patrick Cowell admits he entered a dark cave when he separated from his partner after 15 years of marriage, but was also alarmed at the prospect of all the money disappearing into legal fees.

He owns a home with his former partner and, at the time of separation four years ago, he said he was pushed by family and friends to finalise things formally.

Divorce and parenting agreements are costly, according to the Australian Law Reform Commission, which found those in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are forking out up to $1 million each on legal fees. Picture: iStock

The search for a law firm saw him spend fours hours filling out an online form about his circumstances before he attended an hour meeting.

At the end, he received a bill for $800 from the law firm, and was “shocked”, describing the family legal system as “broken”.

So far he and his former partner have avoided the need for court proceedings.

“If I was to go down the road of divorce – and I’m not intending to marry again – you’re effectively handing over your children’s inheritance to a legal firm and a home is the pillar of financial security for a family,” he told news.com.au.

“I would put my family into a what I call a cycle of generational poverty – that’s the way I see it now. The system is not set up to help people formalise things.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, one Queensland law firm, Forge Legal, has seen requests for advice on separation and divorce skyrocket by 30 per cent, but they are forced to turn away up to 60 per cent of people because they can’t afford the costs.

Patrick Cowell has been separated for four years but didn’t want to lose his kids’ inheritance to lawyer’s fees. Picture: Supplied

Tracey McMillan, CEO of Forge Legal, has been a family lawyer for 20 years and has seen a staggering increase in people going it alone in court, with 32 per cent of matters self-represented in 2019.

She said the reason divorce has become so costly is because matters are getting dragged through the courts and are taking three to five years to resolve. This means things change and affidavits and statements have to be redone

“So any time there is a change in situation, you have got to draft new documents and turn up to court and you won’t necessarily get a start,” Ms McMillan said.

“Judges might have 40 other people on their list and you get five minutes and that’s not enough time for a judge to make decisions and there is not enough judges sitting.”

But Ms McMillan is determined to make a difference and has set up a website called No Lawyers, which she sunk $250,000 into and has taken four years to get off the ground.

Tracey McMillan, CEO at Forge Lawyers and founder of No Lawyers, wants to change the legal landscape with her new platform for divorce and parenting orders. Picture: Supplied

It provides a negotiation platform for couples to divide assets or decide on parenting orders. It even includes a tone meter – which prevents people from sending abusive language to the other party.

“People are going through separation and the way they communicate is not the nicest at times and there is also domestic violence or using the platform as method of harassment, so it flags up red if bad language is used and says, ‘You can’t send that, reword your offer,’ and it’s so needed in the era of family law sometimes,” Ms McMillan said.

No Lawyers works by helping the parties come to an agreement – without the involvement of lawyers – and then they simply press a button and the system will generate court-ready documents based on their preferences.

One document costs $249 and usually two documents are required for divorce proceedings, Ms McMillan said.

The cost of using No Lawyers is the equivalent of 1 per cent of what people would normally spend through lawyers, she said.

But No Lawyers isn’t about making money for Ms McMillan – instead she wants to change the legal landscape in the next 10 years and give people a voice when they don’t have assistance.

“You see a lot of people saying, ‘I hate lawyers. You’re trying to rob people of their money, you’re all about money,’ and I can see where people get that view,” she said.

“I see that many people get hurt by the family court system, and if I can do one small thing to alleviate that and actually make it so that family court is healing families, and not harming them, than I can be proud to call myself a family lawyer.”

A screenshot from the No Lawyers website shows how it can work. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, Mr Cowell is investigating whether the No Lawyers platform will work for him.

“People when they are stressed from the separation process, they are angry and they are not in a position to make an informed decision. I was all of those things and I wasn’t really thinking straight either,” he said.

“The advantage of using the No Lawyers platform is it’s a simple step-by-step process, which isn’t invasive or asking you to take an aggressive approach with your other partner. At the end of the day, they are the father or mother of your children and everything has to be done with the kids taken into consideration.

“I think there is an understanding now that not everyone can afford the ridiculous fees to try and finalise a process like separation, divorce and parenting orders.”