Wevorce, a startup that uses technology and mediators to give parting couples a more amicable — and cheaper — option for divorce, announced on Tuesday a new online support network of experts who will help guide families through post-divorce challenges.
The network of specialists, called the weCommunity , includes real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, counselors, accountants, financial advisers and estate planners who can help parting sources and their children navigate the many financial, logistical and legal challenges that come with divorce. WeCommunity is available to all Wevorce customers.
San Mateo-based Wevorce is a 2-year-old startup that aims to bring a little peace to the often roiled process by moving divorce from the expensive, slow-moving courts to the Web. Wevorce combines software, video conferencing and other online tools with family law attorneys who mediate — not litigate — to end a marriage. The attorneys who serve Wevorce customers help splitting couples plan their future through in-person meetings or video chats, creating a plan for child custody, splitting assets and other family matters such as who pays the dog s vet bills.
Now, the weCommunity expands those services to include finance, insurance and property experts who can help ensure both sides leave the marriage on solid financial footing.
Our clients face many challenges when going through a divorce; there are emotional, legal, and financial ramifications, said Michelle Crosby, chief executive and co-founder of Wevorce. Many of our families have questions about counseling services for their children, selling and buying new homes, preparing taxes and updating insurance policies.
Divorce can result in losing half of a couple s network and doubling each of their expenses, according to Wevorce. A woman s financial well-being takes the hardest hit; according to a US Census Bureau report from 2011, women who divorced in the previous 12 months reported less household income than recently divorced men. In fact, 27 percent of women who divorced in the prior 12 months had less than $25,000 in annual household income compared with 17 percent of recently divorced men.
With Wevorce, couples a flat fee that is decided up front, a price based partly on how complicated their assets are to divide. Wevorce keeps 60 percent of the fee, and the mediator keeps the rest.
The startup, which serves most of Northern California, has facilitated the divorce of hundreds of couples, including several in the Bay Area.
Illustration by Randy Mack Bishop/ Marin Independent Journal/ Bay Area News Group
