Talk about turning sour grapes into lemonade.
Melanie Carson, 44, was horrified to shell out nearly $75,000 in legal fees during her bitter divorce — now she is trying to help other women avoid the same financial pitfalls she once faced.
The self-professed “Erin Brockovich of divorces” has launched her own divorce strategy company, Dispartio, to help the lovelorn navigate pricey splits, Kennedy News and Media reports.
When Carson started her own divorce proceedings in 2016, she says she was told it would cost $25,000 — but it ended up being triple that number.
The Londoner was left with sticker shock after her nine-month divorce, vowing never to let the same thing happen to anyone else.
“My friends were away for a weekend, so I armed myself with plenty of red wine and Chinese (food) and laid out every single itemized bill along my hallway and matched it up with the correspondence,” she explained.
“I realized the amount was life changing, it was enough to put a deposit on a flat.”
The former mental health worker has dedicated herself to researching legal experts, mediators, financial advisers and law firms, acting as a kind of “divorce matchmaker” for her clients.
She says she earns around $62,000 a year.
“I choose my hours and clients, and I don’t over-do it. I’d rather not spread myself so thin,” she reasoned.
She explains her new work has been like “therapy” for her after divorcing her husband of five years.
“There’s this misconception that in order to get the best outcome you need to arm yourself with the best lawyers, and that’s not necessarily the case,” Carson said.
She encourages clients to do as much as they can themselves, but where they can’t, she and other experts assist in finding them a “support team” to guide them through the rest of their divorce.
“I don’t offer legal advice, but what I do is make them aware of other alternatives to achieve their outcome,” Carson told Kennedy News.
“I wanted people to know a lot of the first part of the divorce process you can do yourself, the government make it quite easy these days.”
Looking back, Carson said that she could have chosen to represent herself or work out her own deal during her divorce, but didn’t know otherwise.
“You have to be a bit savvy, I wanted to make sure people weren’t daunted like I was,” she said.
She explained that at the time, she didn’t have friends who had gone through a divorce and didn’t have anyone to ask for advice.
Though Carson wouldn’t “wish divorce upon anybody,” she admits feeling “grateful” for her ex-husband, as he inspired her newfound profession.
“I love what I do and the knowledge that I can help other people go through one of the most traumatic events of their life is truly rewarding,” Carson told Kennedy News.
She claims to have already helped others save thousands.
“One client recently said, ‘I think I’ve saved about ($8,700) compared to what my friend went through thanks to all your tips and tricks,'” Carson said. “That’s a holiday, a car — it’s money best spent elsewhere.”
