Co-founders plan to offer the same service for separation agreements
Rising living costs, a growing number of couples attempting DIY prenuptial agreements (often with disastrous results), and partners’ increasingly complex asset portfolios have led two BC-based lawyers to create a tech-driven solution for modern relationships.
Amanda Baron and Aimee Schalles, lawyers formerly at Miller Thomson, co-founded Jointly Solutions Limited, a company designed to streamline and reduce the cost of creating prenuptial or cohabitation agreements.
Schalles, a practising family lawyer, says that a traditional prenup in Canada typically costs between $2,500 and $5,000 when both parties retain independent legal counsel. In contrast, Jointly’s platform – which combines an educational course with a questionnaire-based agreement builder – can cut that cost by nearly 90 percent.
The platform offers a bundled course and agreement package for $379 per couple. Schalles adds that follow-up legal review is also more affordable: “If a lawyer has a well-drafted agreement and full financial disclosure in front of them, one to one and a half billable hours is usually enough for a lawyer to explain the agreement and provide a certificate where required.”
Baron, whose own difficult divorce helped motivate her to launch the company, says the platform’s educational component is written in plain, accessible English and doesn’t require any legal background to understand.
“Our product has two parts,” Schalles explains. “The first is a course to educate people about family law so they understand the default legal framework and what they’re agreeing to. The second is an agreement builder, which produces a draft based on their responses.”
The system doesn’t use AI but instead operates on “if/then” logic that adapts to a user’s responses to generate a legal document. In Ontario and British Columbia, independent legal advice isn’t required for such agreements to be legally valid. In Alberta, however, a certificate from a lawyer is necessary. The platform is live in Ontario and awaiting final regulatory approval in Alberta and BC.
Baron and Schalles hope their platform will lower financial and emotional barriers. They say starting a conversation about a prenup can feel awkward or confrontational, particularly when it begins with two people separately seeking legal representation.
“I’ve had clients sit across from me and say, ‘It feels weird to start this conversation by both of us going to lawyers – it feels very adversarial,’” Schalles recalls.
Baron agrees. “We’re hoping that by making it something people can do on their own, it reduces one of the key barriers. The issue isn’t just cost – it’s also ease of use and making the process feel more natural and comfortable.”
Many of Baron’s peers in their 30s have gone through difficult breakups and regretted not having an agreement simply because starting the process felt uncomfortable or too formal. Jointly, she says, aims to provide a more approachable alternative.
So far, they say the platform resonates most with women, particularly those between 30 and 45.
“That’s what we were expecting,” says Baron. “People are getting married a bit later, and often women in that age range have established careers and assets of their own.”
She sees this as part of a more significant trend of financial empowerment. “There’s a strong bias towards women being interested in it, and I think that’s part of a larger movement of women trying to be more empowered with their finances and take control of running these things.”
She adds that today’s housing market is also playing a role. In major urban centers, individuals often enter relationships with real estate investments worth $1 million or more or with large down payments gifted by family members. As a result, prenups are increasingly seen not as pessimistic or unromantic but as legal tools for protecting major financial interests.
Schalles adds that, while Jointly can streamline some of the processes, there are still cases where tailor-made agreements are necessary due to the situation's complexity.
She cautions that the platform isn’t for everyone and adds that complicated finances, children from prior relationships, or unusual asset arrangements may still require the expertise of a seasoned lawyer.
She likens it to buying a suit: “Custom-made suits may fit perfectly, but not everybody has the means – or the need – to visit a tailor. Sometimes, you want something off the rack that you can take for a few alterations. It's more affordable and still fits well."
In that analogy, the Jointly platform would be a knowledgeable salesperson: practical, affordable, and guided, she adds.
The co-founders plan to expand their offerings beyond prenuptial and cohabitation agreements. Their next goal is to develop a similar platform for basic separation agreements – another area where they see high demand and limited access to quality resources.
Schalles says many individuals try to manage separations using templates found online, which are often US-based and legally irrelevant in Canada.
“Even when couples agree on everything if they own a home together, a bank will usually require a formal separation agreement to take one partner off the title and finalize the mortgage,” she explains. “There’s a real need there, and we want to help meet it.”
