LawtechUK is a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) backed initiative dedicated to driving digital transformation in the legal sector. Here, the organisation explains how online divorce platform SeparateSpace was given a mentor to guide the business through its early days.
“When it comes to divorce in England and Wales, most people don’t qualify for legal aid and, for the vast majority of people, it’s not affordable to have a solicitor by their side all the way through the process.”
That’s the view of Amanda Bell, co-founder of SeparateSpace, an online legal platform providing a new, affordable way of accessing support when going through a divorce.
Bell (pictured right with co-founder Victoria Nottage) continues:
“The upshot is that people don’t know where to start. Do they try to work it out on their own – perhaps with some limited professional support? We know that for some people, walking away from their rights entirely or staying stuck in an unhappy or unhealthy marriage feels like the only option.”
Bell believed there had to be a better way to help people through one of the most difficult periods of their lives. So, with 10 years of experience as a family lawyer behind her, she turned to technology to develop a user-friendly digital approach to divorce.
Access to SeparateSpace is available on a subscription basis from £25 a month – a pricing model not used by lawyers.
The tech works by taking people through a series of questions, such as:
Do you still live with your ex? Do you have children together? Is your family home owned or rented?
It then creates a personalised pathway where people can see, step-by-step, the actions they need to take – like a project management tool for divorce.
Bell explains:
“There’s lots of information online, but it’s very difficult for someone to figure out what’s reliable and what’s relevant. The volume of information alone can feel incredibly stressful – particularly at such a difficult time emotionally.
“We’ve had a few people say they’re neuro-divergent and explain that our step-by-step approach has helped them feel far more in control and less overwhelmed.”
SeparateSpace recognises that divorce is more than just a legal problem. The platform provides support on everything from wellbeing to parenting, from guides on supporting children, to template emails to help parents tell school what’s going on at home, and live workshops with experts across law, mediation, finance, clinical psychology and relationships.
Bell has raised investment from Angel Investors and won a number of awards, including two from Innovate UK with monetary grants attached.
She stresses that this is not about replacing lawyers.
“Legal advice is an anchor, and we want as many people as possible to access one-to-one support from a solicitor. We also need to be realistic about how far budgets will stretch.
“SeparateSpace is about empowering people to do more of the process themselves. This means that any budget they have for legal advice can be used as effectively as possible – they have the right information, and they’re clear about the questions they need to ask.”
Bell’s starting point was contacting LawtechUK, the free Ministry of Justice initiative dedicated to driving digital transformation in the legal sector.
LawtechUK provides networking events, mentoring and free educational programmes designed to support lawtech founders from ideation to scale.
Bell says:
“LawtechUK is just brilliant. The events are a good space to network. Not just for your business, but for ideas for the future and what’s coming next. It’s about being curious about innovation.
“I was also given a mentor – Jules Fernandes at Shine. She helped me formulate and understand my brand proposition for the business – not something I learnt at law school!
“Having come from a big law firm with an established framework in place, having support from LawtechUK while building something from the ground up has been excellent.”
To find out more about LawtechUK, see lawtechuk.io
