Leaving a narcissist and going through the family court is likely to be the scariest thing you'll ever have to do. This book will be your trusted companion and guide to the practical, legal and emotional challenges you'll face along the way. It contains information you won't find elsewhere and it costs a fraction of the price of an hour with a solicitor.

Narcissists form a disproportionate percentage of those who separate and divorce because they're not good at relationships. They tend to fall out with family members and work colleagues too and they can't be in an intimate relationship without lying, manipulating, shaming, confusing and controlling.

This book is for you if you are:

• A woman or a man who is or was married or cohabiting
• Leaving, or thinking of leaving, a difficult or narcissistic partner
• A parent facing children proceedings in the family court
• Being alienated from you child
• Trying to co-parent with a narcissist
• In divorce and/or financial proceedings with a narcissist
• A litigant in person (self-representing)
• Represented by a solicitor and/or barrister

The different types of narcissist are explained, including covert narcissists, sociopaths, and those with borderline personality disorder.

You're likely to find yourself in court when you leave because you can't negotiate with a narcissist and there's no other way to resolve the disputes around your children and/or come to a financial settlement. The book helps you to set boundaries with the narcissist, communicate with them and manage their behaviour to mitigate its effects on you and your children.

Unfortunately, most lawyers and judges don't understand the narcissist's disordered personality and try to settle these disputes in the same way as they do other cases. That doesn't work, and it will cost you a lot of time and money and play into the narcissist's aim to ensure you can't afford legal representation. The narcissist has to win and doesn't care how they do it or who they hurt on the way - and that includes their own children.

Author Diana Jordan is a former solicitor and now works with people needing help through court proceedings against a narcissist. Many of her clients can't afford a lawyer and she has written this guide to the family court in England and Wales with the litigant in person very much in mind.

The book explains how to navigate the family court and build your case with compelling evidence. You'll learn about:

• Solicitors and barristers - when you need one and what you can do yourself - and how to deal with your ex's lawyers
• McKenzie Friends if you can't afford a barrister
• How to address the court
• The different types of court hearings and how they work
• Writing statements
• Collecting evidence to build your case
• Giving evidence and being cross-examined in court hearings
• Cafcass, and how to prepare for interviews
• What's likely to go wrong, and how to deal with it
• How to appeal and make a complaint

One of the impossible things asked of you will be to co-parent with the narcissist. You'll learn how to use parallel parenting instead and to protect your children as best you can from the narcissists dreadful parenting. You'll learn about parental alienation which is the worst form of abuse inflicted by a narcissist, and how to take action against it.

With real life case studies from people who have been through the family court this book is your companion you'll want by your side to achieve the best outcomes you can for yourself and your children.