Scarlet2 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 What is the average cost of a divorce if it's clean cut, no child support, no fighting over who gets what, etc, after all the court costs and legal fees? Is it typically $5,000 per person and up? And do you have to have the money up front or can payments be made? Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieT Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Where do you live? Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Lucky Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Also depends on assets and financial complexity... Mr. Lucky Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Our D cost me a bit under ten grand in legal fees and about a quarter mil in total. Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Not sure what the average is but in my state.. a no fault 31 day divorce state it cost me somewhere around 36k in attorney fees and took almost 7 months.. We had no assets together, no kids, 5 year marriage.. but she didn't want a divorce and was dealing with some mental issues so that made things tough on me. We also went back and forth on some money that was loaned to her business and until that was agreed upon she bobbed and weaved thru the courts like a basketball. Link to post Share on other sites
Author Scarlet2 Posted August 20, 2014 Author Share Posted August 20, 2014 In FL and what if it's just a house, two cars and 24 years married and wife has the higher income? Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 If you can settle it out, the legal costs can be quite low. Check with a mediator on that. The rest depends on joint assets and what funds are available to settle out their equity. For example, if one or the other can refi the house and cash out the other's equity and retain ownership, that would be one solution. Of course selling the house and cashing out would be another. One party gets one car, the other the other car. You're both older and presumably working so income would be irrelevant in a settlement, though it might not be in a contested action. I'd get a good faith estimate from a lawyer regarding both paths, after providing them with a financial statement, and see what shakes out. Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 A friend of mine who is a divorce lawyer said an uncontested divorce will probably run about 1/3 of the assets: figure 1/3 for you; 1/3 for your STBX & 1/3 for the lawyers. Link to post Share on other sites
PegNosePete Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 1/3 for the lawyers. Even when uncontested? Wow. In the UK it's about 2-3 hours work for a solicitor to draw up the divorce paperwork and a consent order. When everything is amicable and the spouses can decide who gets what between themselves, the entire divorce costs about £1k. The more you fight, the more it costs, of course. Link to post Share on other sites
dumped2013 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I'm in GA, We had an uncontested D in July 2013. 16 year marriage. Quite a few assets. 1500.00 for the D, 200,000 to exw. Link to post Share on other sites
Hope Shimmers Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Wow, I can't believe these replies. We had a totally uncontested divorce (US) where we decided the child custody and split all assets down the middle. We put it all on paper in detail and handed it to the attorney. The attorney drew up the paperwork and we signed. Attorney fees were less than $1000 total (for both of us together). 1 Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 OP, if this is concerning this guy, I was him (MM) and still managed to end up towards the end of the scale Hope Shimmers indicated, though the numbers reflected our financials, primarily mine. With more 'stuff', it simply costs more to plow through it all. Two paychecks and a few assets, no biggie. What that member stated sounds reasonable, though the adult and near adult children may make a difference, especially compared to our situation. In our jurisdiction, filing fees for uncontested run around 400 bucks with service and the self-help desk arranged for complimentary mediation. The trick is the parties being amicable. Usually, BS's aren't amicable. My exW happened to be, largely, amicable. YMMV. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
LuvsTrucks2 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 It all depends on the dynamics and where you live. Right now, my retainer is at $6,000 and we worked out all the details before going to the lawyer. Link to post Share on other sites
RonaldS Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Ex and I went pro se. I spent a total of $35 for gas. Link to post Share on other sites
WasOtherWoman Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 No one wins when a divorce needs to be settled in court except for the attorneys. If you can agree on everything, then just hand over to attorneys to file it will be much cheaper. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Hope Shimmers Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Like cargill said, the deciding factor is how amicable the 2 people can be. If you can agree on as much as possible beforehand and then write it all out (down to the last dollar) you can save A LOT of attorney fees. And we had significant assets (a million plus in land as well as savings). We just divided it all out. Our salaries were similar so that was not an issue either. As for the kids, we found a few parenting plans online and used those to make one ourselves, so we had that document completed as well before we ever met with the attorneys -right down to the last hour of parenting. We have joint physical and legal custody. Link to post Share on other sites
amaysngrace Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Mine cost me over $7000 in attorney fees and we settled in less than a year. But I got everything I wanted....primarily a divorce.... Link to post Share on other sites
Hope Shimmers Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Like cargill said, the deciding factor is how amicable the 2 people can be. Jeez... sorry. I meant carhill, not cargill. (I know you're not a grain company) Link to post Share on other sites
BikerAccnt Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 If it's truly uncontested, and you and your soon to be ex can agree on who gets what WITHOUT getting attorney's involved. The cost of the actual divorce can be relatively inexpensive. My Divorce in Ohio, cost about 2k for the legal fees. All we used an attorney for was to make sure all the legal paperwork was signed. Mind you, that's just the cost of the legal fees for the divorce. It still cost me in that, I had to buy her out of half the house, she got 1/2 of my retirement, and 1/2 of all savings. However, we did it amicably, and though we didn't part as friends, we didn't part as enemies either. So if there's no animosity between you, and you can agree who gets what, it can be done pretty quick and cheap. From start to finish, my divorce took 6 mos. Link to post Share on other sites
jellybean89 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Is this information for a divorce for you or are you wondering what the cost would be if the MM you are seeing gets a divorce? Why are you asking about this? Please don't give him the $$ to get a divorce. I have several friends who have gotten divorced; one was under $500 (with kids) and one was $42,000 (with kids). Depends on various factors, including whether both want to be divorced. Link to post Share on other sites
Apaige Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Two years of constant bickering, and 30K later here in the US Link to post Share on other sites
slizl Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Without lawyers, around a few hundred bucks. With lawyers and no fighting between you both, maybe a few grand. Start fighting about things, thousands and thousands. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Forgot about this part: And do you have to have the money up front or can payments be made? With the law firm I used, retainer was by check or wire transfer and progress payments could be in any form, even credit card. Lawyer suggested I pay by CC in case bankruptcy option ended up on the table. They didn't hit me with a big retainer for divorce consults, as can be customary, because I was an existing customer for other matters. Jeez... sorry. I meant carhill, not cargill. (I know you're not a grain company) Ha, closest I come to that is working on the stuff; nothing for Cargill though. Link to post Share on other sites
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