Divorce attorneys are very important when you are dissolving your marriage. A good divorce attorney can protect your assets and your access to your children. Having a good divorce lawyer can, at times, even end up making things less costly- your divorce attorney can help you to negotiate a settlement quicker and do so out-of-court by negotiating with your ex-spouses attorney. However, you may be concerned about how much divorce attorneys cost, especially if you don't have a lot of assets or if you were a stay-at-home spouse and you don't have income.
Divorce Attorneys and Fees
Divorce attorneys are not allowed to charge on a contingent fee basis or on a percentage basis. You may hear commercials on TV all the time where lawyers promise that you pay no fees unless you win your case or recover money--- those lawyers are personal injury lawyers working on a contingent fee basis. Divorce lawyers aren't allowed to do that, because it would encourage divorces to be even more bitter and acrimonious if the divorce lawyers had a percentage interest at stake.
Instead, divorce lawyers charge on an hourly basis:
- You are typically required to pay a retainer when you hire a divorce lawyer. This is sort of a deposit for legal services
- You will be told what the attorney's hourly fee is when you sign a contract to become a client. Sometimes, the hourly fee is higher for certain actions. For example, your divorce lawyer may charge more for hours she has to actually be in court than for hours spent researching your case.
Flat Fee Divorce
Some divorce attorneys will offer a "flat fee" divorce where they file the paperwork on an uncontested divorce for a flat amount. For example, you may be charged $1000 to file the paperwork and present a divorce agreement to a judge after you and your spouse have already hammered out all the terms. This is fine, but only if you and your spouse are in agreement and you don't have a lot of assets. Otherwise, you may wish to have an attorney who helps you to negotiate and who helps to ensure you get a fair settlement, so you may prefer to go with an hourly-fee attorney.
Getting Help
When you are considering divorce, shop around for divorce attorneys who you can afford who will provide high quality legal service. In some cases, if you were the stay-at-home spouse and don't have assets of your own, your ex-spouse may be required to pay your legal fees. These costs will be built into the divorce settlement. If this is your situation, make sure your attorney is willing to work with you until you get the money to pay him.
