Practical, savvy, and wide-ranging, this resource shows men and women how to avoid the pitfalls that turn a straightforward divorce into a nightmare. Drawing on her own personal experience, the author also brings together the best advice from a wide range of experts that include divorce attorneys, mental-health professionals, and financial gurus. This guide coaches separating couples how to build a shortlist of the best divorce attorneys in their area, how to conduct an interview to find the right one, and what the full range of legal options are for each case. Further tips explain how to manage the paperwork, ways to lower legal costs, and practical advice for getting back to "normal" once the divorce is finalized. This reassuring manual also explains the stages of divorce grief and how to separate the emotional divorce from the legal divorce.