“What can I tell you?” Lawyer No. 9 says as I sit there in shock, staring at the piece of paper describing my losses in agonizing detail.

“Family law favours deadbeats. ”That’s a fast-forward into the middle of my legal fiasco.

After my 20-year marriage ended in anguished divorce, I met Mr. Wonderful, online of course, and let him move in with me.

Later, because I didn’t have enough self-knowledge, self-love, a good understanding of how family law actually works, or an ironclad cohabitation agreement, I was seriously flocked. Fleeced is about how to draft the terms of a cohabitation agreement so you don’t get “flocked by family law,” told from the perspective of someone who did, painfully.

It reverse-engineers what went wrong for me, with my relationships and legal processes, to help you avoid the same fate by drafting an agreement that will actually protect you before and after the love of your life moves in. I consulted with thirteen lawyers and six therapists over the course of my relationship with “Dick Chancer” and its unraveling into a nasty legal battle in my efforts to save my house, my retirement savings, and my sanity.

But none of them could help save me. Because Fleeced is also about recognizing the more subtle signs of dysfunction—in ourselves and in someone who claims to love us so much—and of abuse.

It’s about overcoming all of that—the shock, disappointment, agony, the lost dreams, and the shriveled bank account—and finally finding freedom on the other side. .