How much will my divorce cost?

It depends on the parties and the property. The short answer is that the more the parties fight or the more types of property involved, the more it costs.

Divorces with no children and no property other than personal effects can often be done for under $1,500 so long as the number of hours required by the firm to complete the case is limited.

If the parties have children, issues such as child custody, health insurance, and child support arise and add to the cost. However, if ALL of the children's issues are agreed to and the agreements use the standard language frequently found in divorce decrees, the cost should not increase dramatically. If the agreements require custom writing, the cost to write the customized clauses will add significantly to the cost of the divorce.

If property and debts are added, the property and debts must be divided and the documents needed to reflect the division must be prepared. For example, if one party is taking the house, this will need to be reflected in the divorce decree and real estate deeds will need to be prepared. This again increases the cost, but not significantly if ALL the terms are agreed to. Real estate, closely held businesses, retirement plans, and stock options are among the most complicated assets to divide. The least expensive method to divide property and debts is for decree to state that each party receives property solely in their name or in their possession, and pays debts solely in their name. However, the parties sometimes cannot easily divide the property and debts into their separate names because the assets and debts are not fairly split.

The more the parties fight, the more the divorce will cost. This is because the amount of time spent by the law firm addressing the client's concerns increases dramatically. A divorce can only be resolved in a few ways: a reconciliation, an agreement or a trial. The overwhelming number of cases eventually reach an agreement, but the energy, time and money spent by the parties before reaching their agreement varies. Cases that go to trials are very expensive due to the significant time involved.

Our firm attempts to hold down the cost to the client. We have reasonable initial retainers. We also instruct our clients on methods to limit their fees. However, if the opposing party insists on a high conflict approach, our law firm will have to respond to their action and spend additional time on the matter, the attorney's fees will increase even if our client is doing everything possible to limit the fees.