Getting divorced certainly is not cheap. Aside from the ultimate payout
of assets, spousal support and child support, the process itself can be
quite costly. Here is a basic rundown of the typical costs involved in
getting a divorce.
Court Costs
Every divorce involves some court costs. These are the filing fees that
you have to pay to the court when filing certain documents with the
court. The main fee that is paid is to file the petition for divorce,
which varies by county and state, but can range somewhere between $120
to $300. If certain motions are filed with the court, then there will
be a small fee for that as well.
If both parties do not hire attorneys or anyone else, such as an
arbitrator, to provide professional assistance in the divorce process,
then it is possible that a divorce could cost around $500 to $1,000.00.
However, this is a very rare occurrence, except in the most amicable
and trusting of divorces where the parties quickly settle the matter
and without the assistance of any legal professionals.
Legal Professional Costs
Most people will hire some sort of legal professional to assist them in
the divorce process. The most common situation is when both sides hire
divorce attorneys to handle their cases. However, sometimes people, in
an attempt to keep the cost of their divorces down, will hire an
arbitrator who will preside over negotiations for the couple getting
divorced.
Arbitrator Costs
The cost of any divorce will largely depend on how contentous the
divorce is. As such, a couple who is willing to work together and keep
emotions, especially feelings of hurt and anger, out of the equation
can get divorced rather inexpensively. On the other hand, couples who
allow emotions to run their cases and who fight each other every step
of the way will find that they will spend a lot more money on their
divorces.
When a divorce is not riddled by a lot of fighting, people are much
better able to get through it simply using an arbitrator to mediate
their negotiations and to assist in coming to a final settlement. The
parties will meet with the arbitrator/mediator at least more than once,
but the frequency will depend upon the difficulty the parties are
having in coming to a final resolution on all aspects of the divorce.
The more often the parties need to meet with the arbitrator to reach a
settlement in their divorce, the more money it will cost them. An
arbitrator in a divorce can cost from as low as a couple thousand
dollars to upwards of about $10,000.00. The divorce can cost even more
if the attempts to use an arbitrator are unsuccessful and the parties
must then go out and each hire their own separate attorneys.
Attorney's Fees
Attorney's fees are by far the most expensive cost in a divorce, aside
from the actual settlement between the parties. Even with hiring an
attorney, the cost will vary. If the parties are relatively amicable
and work in a cooperative manner to come to a quick resolution of their
matter, then the fees should not be very high. A relatively amicable
divorce can cost between $5,000 to $10,000 in attorney's fees, possibly
a little more if there are child custody issues to be addressed.
If the parties are fighting it out, then the case could drag on,
potentially costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The more emotion
and anger the parties allow to interfere in the process and the more
they fight over assets, children, etc., the more expensive the case
will be. If the divorce proceeds to trial, rather than being settled,
it will cost a lot more money.
Since most people do not go through a divorce without legal
representation, the average cost of a divorce that is not highly
contentious is around $10,000 to $20,000. It is in everyone's best
interest to keep it cooperative and avoid unnecessary fighting in order
to keep costs low. Otherwise, your divorce may cost six figures.