One question that often comes up in an initial consultation is: How much will my divorce cost? That’s a fair question, but it’s a difficult question to answer. Family law attorneys typically charge by the hour, so the more contentious or complex the case is the more it will cost. Some cases also require a Child and Family Investigator or other experts that increase costs as well. Since it’s not clear what will be required for the case, it’s very difficult to accurately estimate the total cost at a first meeting. What’s not difficult though, and what can be very helpful, is to understand the factors that contribute to costs. This article is meant to make clear why some cases can cost much more than others, and to help you get a general idea of where your case may fall in the spectrum.
General Factors Affecting Cost of Divorce
The two biggest factors in determining the costs associated with your family law case are (1) the complexity of the case, and (2) the parties’ ability/willingness to reach agreements outside of court.
Some cases are simply more complicated than others. There are any number of complicating circumstances that can crop up in a dissolution or allocation of parental responsibilities case that would ultimately add to the costs. For example, jurisdictional or service issues in the early stages of the case or the need for a temporary orders hearing would add to the litigation associated with the case, which would ultimately cost more. In short, the more issues that need to be addressed and the more time consuming they are to address, the more the case will cost.
A large part of an attorney’s role in a dissolution or allocation of parental responsibilities case is to try and reach an agreed upon solution, or stipulation, with the other party if possible. Although not all cases can or should be settled outside of court, if an agreement can be reached outside of court then hefty costs associated with preparing for and appearing in court for a contested hearing can be completely avoided.
Specifics on Attorney’s Fees
Attorneys in Colorado are not permitted to handle dissolution cases on a contingency basis, and the inherent uncertainty about the length and depth of any necessary litigation makes it unlikely that any experienced attorney would agree to a flat fee for such a case. That means that the attorney’s fees will be based on an hourly rate. Before hiring an attorney you should understand the billing practices of the attorney, including: what the hourly rate is for the attorney; how often you can expect to receive invoices; how the attorney bills time (1/10th of an hour increments vs. 1/6th of an hour increments, etc.); and if/how you will be billed for any travel time or other costs, etc.
Attorneys often have paralegals or administrative staff that will assist with cases. Just like the attorneys, other staff members will have hourly rates for time spent on the case. Just as you should understand the attorney’s hourly rates and billing practices, you should be sure to understand who else will or could be working on the case, and what their hourly rates are.
For more thoughts on what to discuss with your attorney before hiring them in general, see my thoughts here.
CFIs and Other Case Costs
Beyond just attorneys fees, some cases will require the services of a Child and Family Investigator or Parental Responsibilities Evaluator, a mediator, a process server/private investigator, and/or any number of experts. The cost of these services, depending on what’s needed, can range from a couple hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, and can severely impact the overall cost of the case.
Whether or not an expert will be required cannot always be determined right away, but it should be an ongoing discussion between you and your attorney and you should always make sure you ask any questions necessary to understand what service(s) is/are being provided by the expert and what cost will be associated with that.
Discussing the case and the factors above with an attorney can hopefully give you some idea of where your case may fall in the spectrum of costs, but don’t expect anyone to be able to give you an estimate of the cost associated with your case, as what work and outside services are necessary is not readily apparent at the start of the case and can easily change over the course of the case. If you have any questions about costs, billing practices, experts, or anything else please feel free to contact me directly at (720) 507-3105 or DillieLawOffice@gmail.com.