Divorce Guide for Ontario: Step-by-Step Guide to Obtaining Your Own Divorce

L.M. Marsh was a freelance writer and songwriter who lived in Ottawa.

This guide is one of over 50 titles in the Self-Counsel Series. It offers additional related services: provision of necessary forms for $14.50 or typing service for $80.00.

The author claims that you can save as much as $1000.00 in legal fees by doing your own divorce, and that you can accomplish this end by spending as little as $125.00 (providing no infant children are involved).

The book is divided into two parts. The first part outlines the existing law concerning a divorce action, discussing various grounds on which you may proceed. The second part is a step-by-step approach to obtaining a divorce from the court hearing to the securing of the Decree Absolute.

Other than educating interested lay people, the book has a limited appeal, since it will serve only a select group. The author states that “according to past statistics contested divorces account for only 15% of the total number; this book is written for the other 85%.” While I do not dispute the statistics, they are misleading; by the time the divorce is put down to hearing, the 85% may be realistic. But it is usually the case that there are many contested issues between separation and preparing the petition, and these would require the services of a lawyer.