How Much Does a Divorce Cost?

How Much Does a Divorce Cost? This question is probably one of the first questions our clients ask when we consult on a divorce case.

The fact is, this is a very valid and legitimate question, as we all know that legal proceedings do not often come cheap. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not a simple one. The bad news is that a divorce case cost analyses are complicated and specific to each case. The good news is that you have much more control over the cost of your divorce than you may think.

The truth is that what a divorce case will cost you depends heavily on your circumstances. For this reason, many family law lawyers tend to avoid the question altogether. Although at Woodman Garcia-Sepulveda Law cannot give you a precise cost analysis without a detailed 1:1 consultation, we can help you understand the process a bit better, and elucidate certain factors that will influence the price of your divorce.

The purpose of this article is precisely this— to de-clutter and explain various costs incurred in general divorce proceedings so that you can make an educated financial decision. We know that a divorce is never easy and that the last thing you want to do is worry about unexpected legal costs. To help, in this article, we discuss the influence of an uncontested and contested divorce case on price, as well as some additional factors that may increase or decrease the overall legal costs.

Before we get into some hypothetical examples, let’s cover some California Divorce Law 101 ground, so that you are up to date on what to expect.

California Divorce Law

Naturally, divorce law in any state is very complex and elaborate, so I am not going to attempt to go into detail here. There are, however, some things you should be aware of when it comes to filing for divorce in California (Source: California Courts).

• California is considered a “no-fault” divorce state, which essentially means that neither spouse has to prove that the other did something wrong for the divorce to be granted. The state only requires one of the spouses to file for a divorce based on irreconcilable differences.
• To file for divorce in California, at least one of the spouses must have lived in California for at least six months. To file for divorce in any of the Californian counties, one of the spouses must have lived in that county for a minimum of three months.

• In California, unless disputed or otherwise agreed upon, there is an equal distribution of possessions. This means that if you sell your house that is in community property, each of you will receive half of the takings.
• A divorce in California cannot be finalized before a period of 6 months after the initial divorce petition was filed has passed. Even if a divorce is uncontested and is resolved quickly, it will only be finalized after a six-month period.

What Are the Basic Divorce Proceedings in California?

In short, an undisputed divorce case will follow this procedure:

1. One of the parties files a petition for divorce with the court clerk.
2. The other party then files a response to the petition with the court clerk.
3. Both spouses complete the compulsory declaration of disclosure with the help of their lawyers. These documents outline all your income and expenses, assets, and savings that need to be considered in the divorce proceedings.
4. Both parties will then consult with each other and their legal parties to define and refine the settlement negotiations.
5. An attorney will prepare the stipulated judgment, which includes the agreed-upon settlement terms.
6. The stipulated judgment will be filed to the court for the judge to approve a final decision to finalize the divorce. The settlement terms thus form a part of the judgment.

What Factors Increase the Cost of Divorce Cases?

Although divorce cases are all complex in their nature, and the specifics can be quite daunting, some things specifically increase the costs of a divorce case. In many cases, these can be avoided if both parties are cooperative.

Most of the things that increase legal costs pertain to increase hands-on hours performed by attorneys. These include:

• Paperwork that is inaccurate or incomplete and needs to be sent back and forth between client and attorney, to ensure that it is complete and accurate.
• Parties that are not compliant, forthcoming with information, or provide false information. All of these require extra time spent on the case, more paperwork, and in some cases, the need to appear in court.
• Disputes between parties. To resolve disputes requires additional time, expert witnesses, or the valuation of assets, which will increase the costs or the case.

Budgeting for Your Divorce Case

The truth is that as your legal representative, your attorney should have a frank discussion with you about the budget for your specific case. This discussion should form part of the case strategy and should involve discussing the time that will be spent on your case.

While there is no way to predict the how much does a divorce cost, proper planning, preparation, and budgeting will ensure that money is spent on important issues, rather than being wasted on avoidable irregularities.

Recovering Divorce Costs from Your Spouse

Considering how much does a divorce cost, you may be wondering if you could recover a proportion of the expenses from your spouse. The answer is, “Yes, you can” if your spouse was being unreasonable or earned a much higher income than you.

According to Family Code section 271, you can claim attorney fees and costs from your spouse either during the case, through sanctions, or after the case has been resolved if your spouse is unreasonable.

Family Code 2030 – 2032 addresses income disparity or disparity of access to money between the spouses. This code gives the spouse with the lesser income or access to cash the right to reclaim attorney fees and costs from the other partner.

Please note that in the case of an executive divorce, where a lot of money and assets are at stake, a different format is usually followed with the help of a forensic accountant. These cases are unique and require a consultation with an experienced divorce attorney before any decisions can be made.

1.1.   Child Custody and Alimony

There are several aspects to consider when calculating the cost of finalizing a child custody or alimony agreement.

Child Custody Costs: Since this is an uncomplicated case, we assume that both parents agree to joint custody with an equal division of visitation. To draft a child custody agreement such as this will take a lawyer on roughly 2-4 hours, at an average hourly rate of $400. This fee comes to a total of $800-$1600. For more information on the child custody laws in California, please visit our child custody laws page.

Determining Child Support: Since we consider both parents to be level W2 employees, it is easy to decide on child support using a computer program designed to calculate the expected amount based on salary differences. This figure is then used as a starting point for negotiations. You can find additional information on child support laws in California here: Child Support Information.

This work will take roughly 2-3 hours, and at the previously specified hourly rate, it comes to $800 – $1200.

Determining Spousal Support: In this case, there is a difference in income, and alimony may thus come into play. A temporary alimony amount will be calculated electronically but is open to discussion. In California, alimony is only paid for half the duration of the marriage.

This labor will also take roughly 2-3 hours, totaling $800 – $1200.

1.2.   Division of Possessions and Debts

In California, unless disputed or otherwise agreed upon, there is an equal distribution of property and possessions. If the main property can be sold, each of the parties will receive half of the earnings. If one party desires to keep the property, they must buy out the other party, potentially with the help of their 401k.

Money in the bank, as of the separation date, is also divided equally. Similarly, community debts are also distributed evenly between the parties.

Drafting this agreement can take between 4-6 hours, totaling roughly $1600-2400.

Thus, the total cost of uncontested divorce will fall within the range of $4000 to $6000 per client.

1.3.   The Cost of Disputes

Any added disputes will add to the time spend resolving, drafting, and re-drafting the divorce agreement, and will ultimately increase the overall amount of how much does a divorce cost. It is rare to have a simple uncontested divorce, and in most cases, there will be some disputes, even if they are resolved relatively quickly. Some of the more frequently encountered disagreements and their costs include:

• Custody disputes that take 5 hours to resolve will cost an additional $2000.
• Child support disputes that take an additional 10 hours will add $4000 to the bill.
• Alimony disputes resolved within 5 hours will add $2000 to the total cost.
• Asset disputes can take anywhere from 5 – 10 hours to resolve, adding between $2000 to $4000 to the cost.
• Family code 2640 disputes can take between 10-20 hours, totaling $4000-$8000 extra.
• Retirement account domestic relations costs can add $1000-$2000 to the case.

2.  Basic Cost Analyses of a Truly Contested Divorce

In this scenario, we consider a how much does a divorce cost on a truly contested divorce that requires litigation. Litigation is often needed when disputes cannot be resolved through the usual channels or with the help of a mediator.

Disagreements that may require litigation include:

• The request for service of discovery to obtain information or documentation that is being withheld by one or both parties
• Breach of fiduciary duty that includes deficient disclosures, which may need additional discussions to resolve
• Disputes over child custody arrangements that may involve court filings
• Spousal support disagreements that need legal resolution
• Disputes regarding the separation date

All the standard costs discussed in the previous section will still apply for a divorce case that requires litigation, with the added expenses incurred by the litigation process. The process will also remain similar, but with added paperwork and time spent in court.

Let’s have a look at these litigation processes and what costs they incur.

2.1.   Service of Discovery

A service of discovery is a request for information that has been omitted from the initial divorce filing or report that is being purposefully withheld by one or both parties. Some examples include:

• Family Law Interrogation Forms: Although the process of solving disputes relating to custody and assets can be very time consuming, family law firms usually have their own sets of interrogatories that can help ease the process. These standard questionnaires are straightforward and easy to serve, although they make take many hours to complete by the receiving party. Thus, issuing time may not cost much hands-on time, but completing these documents may incur substantial additional costs.
• Requests for Certain Documents: The costs incurred with this process depends on what type of documents are needed and how cooperative both parties are. The drafting of these requests for documents can take a lot of time to complete, even though most law offices have their own templates for some of the standard requests. On the other hand, responding to these requests can take up substantial amounts of time, and thus incur substantial additional costs.
• Specially Drafted Interrogatories and Disclosures: Requests for the disclosure of information can take up substantial amounts of time and money, as these are regulated by precise laws.
• Oral Depositions are extremely helpful in the case of an uncooperative spouse but typically take no less than seven hours to complete. At the average hourly rate, this totals more $2800 just for an oral deposition. Preparation for the deposition also takes up billable hours that need to be added to the cost. Additionally, a court reporter will charge $1300 to $2000, depending on how many transcript pages were typed.
• Subpoenas: If information is needed from a third party such as a bank, credit card company, or employer, it can be obtained through a subpoena. These are relatively quick to prepare and will take about 2 hours to complete.

If discovery requests are disputed, it will take additional time to resolve these disputes. This time often involves back and forth written communication between the two legal parties. If issues are not resolved through these communications, a court order may be requested to order compliance from an uncooperative spouse.

This whole process can take more than 10 hours to complete, with the actual hearing taking up to half a workday, based on the court’s calendar. Thus, just to resolve a dispute over discovery requests can add nearly two full day’s work, i.e., 16 hours ($6400) to the cost of a divorce case.

2.2.   Disputes Over Disclosures

These types of disputes usually include spouses disagreeing about the information provided by each other regarding income and expenses, possessions, or debts. As with all other conflicts, if both parties agree to cooperate, these problems could be solved in a couple of hours through communication between the two legal parties.

On the other hand, when one or both parties are unreasonable, the process can take considerably longer, thus adding to the cost of the case.

2.3.   Child Custody Disagreements

When disagreements over child custody need to be resolved in court, it can take a lot of paperwork and time, costing thousands of dollars. The process involves one spouse filing for a time in court, followed by a response from the other party. Additional paperwork that may need to be filed can include lists of potential witnesses or other evidence.

If the problem is resolved in only one court session, it may cost as little as $5,000, with this number increasing drastically with each additional court appearance.

2.4.   Child and Spousal Support Disputes

These disputes typically do not take up as much time as custody disputes for two reasons. Firstly, since both parents in this scenario are W2 employees—calculating child and spousal support is uncomplicated. Secondly, these disputes are often clarified along with custody disputes and rarely require their own separate court time.

Support disputes can become complicated, however, when one spouse requests the presence of a professional vocational examiner. Vocational examiners are employed to investigate the earning capacity of a spouse based on education, experience, age, health, and opportunity.  If a spouse is found to earn much less than he or she is capable of, the spousal support could be reduced.

2.5.   Disagreements on the Separation Date

These disputes are quite common, mainly since the separation date will have a significant impact on the determination of property division and spousal support.  Once again, if the parties do not agree on the precise separation date, litigation may be needed. In addition to the paperwork required to obtain a hearing date, extra hours will be logged by lawyers to get and log witnesses and evidence. Similarly, disputes over child custody arrangements, a simple one-court-date resolution will cost roughly $5000, while additional hearings will add to the cost.

In extreme cases, where spouses do not agree on anything, the divorce will proceed to trial. In such cases, the costs are difficult to calculate due to its complexity, but in general, divorces resolved in a trial are costly.

In summary, we would like to say in regards to “how much does a divorce cost”, that the costs of a divorce can be high if both spouses do not cooperate, but this does not have to be the case. Many disputes can be resolved with proper communication and the use of a mediator, and only in some cases, will there be a need for litigation or trial.

The experienced Family Law attorneys at Woodman Garcia-Sepulveda Law are ready to assist you in resolving your divorce as quickly and effortlessly as possible. Call us today to get started.