How to Determine Divorce Lawyer Fees

When married couples cannot resolve their issues they sometimes choose to separate which often leads to a divorce. The parties will typically consult with a lawyer at the beginning and throughout the process. Prior to hiring an attorney to handle the divorce, you should familiarize yourself with the items that are included in the regular attorney fees for divorce and know what could end up costing you additional funds. There are some law offices that charge a flat rate based on contested, uncontested and whether or not there are children involved in the case.

These fees for a divorce include continent fees, retainer fees, hourly and fixed fees; these will all vary depending on the law firm and geographical location. The actual attorney fees will vary based on a number of factors including the firm that the attorney belongs too. The type of divorce will also play a part in determining the divorce lawyer cost. You should have knowledge of the lawyers’ background before you decide on which one to utilize for your divorce proceedings. An attorney with a vast amount of experience is likely to have a higher hourly rate rather than one that is just beginning in practice.

Divorce lawyer cost will not cover the fees associated with the filing of papers, process servers or fees associated with the court. These filing and processing fees will be additional funds that you have to pay out of pocket. This should be discussed during the initial consultation with an attorney to ensure that you are aware of what you are agreeing to prior to hiring an attorney for the proceedings.The time spent by the attorney and their staff working on the divorce case may not be the only things covered in the attorney fees. Travel expenses associated with the case may, also, be charged by the attorney. You should understand the policies and procedures concerning billing prior to hiring a divorce attorney. There are attorneys that offer free consultations that you can use to gain an understanding of these procedures to ensure that you make the most informed decision. The area that you are divorcing in can affect the amount of the fees that are charged by an attorney to handle your divorce.

The fees for divorce attorney and court cost can be very low or very high depending on the divorce type being sought, whether it is contested or uncontested. There are additional fees when a divorce is contested or when you have children versus not having children to take into consideration during divorce proceedings.

Consultations are part of divorce lawyer fees although some divorce attorneys will offer the initial consultation at no cost; others will charge a small fee for this service. The fees for a divorce attorney can be increased a great deal when couples cannot agree on things such as custody and visitation.

There are cases where the attorney fees for divorce can be court ordered to be paid by one party in the divorce in order to ensure that both parties are adequately represented during the proceedings. There are times when attorney fees can continue to accumulate after the divorce proceedings have been finalized if the two parties cannot agree on things such as schools, visitations or support resulting in a return to court.

Attorney fees for divorce can be extremely high making it vital to ask as many questions as you can over the phone prior to scheduling the initial consultation visit to ensure that you are comfortable with the lawyer. In some cases the initial consultation is free and you can take advantage of this time to not only go over what you want but to discuss the cost in detail.