The cost of your divorce is a function of how contested your divorce is. Filing and service fees alone are about $200. If there are no disputes about child custody, child support, visitation, alimony or the division of assets, then your divorce could cost as little as $1,500. In the simplest of cases, there are certain documents to be drafted and filed, a hearing to attend and communications with both sides. Assuming you use an attorney, the simplest of cases will probably cost you around $1,500. If your case is contested that fee could easily exceed $15,000, for each side. That’s $30,000 total. This is money coming from the marital estate.
When there is no agreement the costs can still be controlled. On average, with divorcing couples who participate in divorce mediation spend under $3,000. The mediation process usually costs under $2,000. Once an agreement is reached in mediation, each party has the right to seek independent legal counsel to review the agreement. Usually, one side will retain an attorney to draft the agreement and necessary documents to file the divorce action with the court. This finalization phase is usually under $1,000. So, mediation, in total would probably cost the parties $3,000 total or $1,500 each. It is not uncommon for parties to split the cost of a divorce mediation. Cases where there the parties own their own business, or have multiple sources of income and numerous assets will naturally cost more (even with agreements) because it will take time to focus on the valuation and distribution of those assets.
How much a divorce costs is dependent upon the parties and how they interact with one another. At SDM Law Group we focus on resolving cases as economically and efficiently as possible. This doesn’t mean you give up anything. This means we don’t litigate for the sake of litigation. Revenge has only one function in divorce actions and that is to drive up costs and deplete the marital estate. Divorce mediation is the most efficient way to go.
