Real stories: how it actually went
Wedding sites run real weddings. This is the same idea for the other end: real divorces, told by the people who went through them, with the state, the route, what it cost and how long it took, so you can find someone whose situation looks like yours. Every story here is real and shared with permission. None is invented, and none is paid for.
No stories yet, and that is on purpose
This page is new, and we would rather show you an empty page than a made-up one. The first stories go up when the first people send them. If you have been through it, in any state, by any route, yours could be the one that helps the next person feel less alone. Here is how to share it.
What every story covers
Each story uses the same short format, so you can compare them and find the ones that look like your situation. This is what one will look like.
A headline in the storyteller’s own words
- How it started
- Where things stood when it began, in a few sentences.
- How long it took
- From the first conversation to the final decree.
- What it cost
- The total, in their own words, and what the money went on.
- What helped most
- A person, a page, a decision, a professional.
- What they would do differently
- The thing they wish they had known earlier.
- Where they are now
- The home, the work, the children, the life after.
Share yours
Email it to hello@thecusp.app with the subject line My story. Answer as many of the questions below as you like, in your own words. Short is fine. You do not have to write well; we will only edit for length and to take out anything that could identify someone.
The basics
Your state, the year it was final, whether there were children, and whether you self-filed, mediated, used lawyers or went to trial.
The cost and the time
Roughly what it cost all-in, and how long it took from the first conversation to the decree. If you shared the cost on What people actually pay, you can say so.
What helped, and what you would change
What made the biggest difference, and the one thing you wish someone had told you at the start.
Where you are now
The home, the work, the children, the life. Whatever you want to say about the after.
How you want to be named
First name, initials, a made-up name, or no name at all. Tell us which.
The rules we keep
So that every story here can be trusted
- Real people only. Every story comes from the person it happened to. We do not write composite stories or invent any detail.
- Your permission, in writing. Nothing goes up until you have seen the edited version and said yes. You can ask us to take it down at any time, and we will.
- No one identifiable. We take out names, places and details that could identify your former spouse, your children or anyone else. Children are never named.
- Not a place to name the other side. Stories are about what happened to you and what you learned, not about your former spouse’s conduct.
- Never paid, either way. We do not pay for stories and no one can pay to have one published. Professionals cannot submit stories about their own clients.
- Not advice. A story is one person’s experience in one state. What worked for them may not apply to you. Your state’s divorce kit has the rules.
Until the first stories are up
Three pages on The Cusp already come from what people who went through it have said. What I wish I had known earlier collects about sixty things people found out too late. What people actually pay is what roughly 190 people reported spending. You are not the only one is for the nights it feels like you are. And the community sets out the boards we plan to open. Until they do, the free Facebook group is open to everyone.
See the whole process in order
Every step from the first week to the year after.