Legal Question in Family Law in California

Not a lot easier or cheaper. Unless you want to be married but have separate finances, divorce will save you money in the long run. If you have so little in the way of assets that you can't afford an attorney, and there are not kids or you won't fight about them, it's pretty easy to do your own divorce without an attorney. Your county court will have a self-help service to help you through it and there are a lot of good books on simple divorces. I recommend the ones from Nolo Press. If you do have assets and/or a custody or support fight ahead, bite the bullet and hire a lawyer.