My question involves a marriage in the state of: OH
Hello, what is the approximate cost of a divorce (lawyer fees) in which custody is highly contested, and the parents are unable to agree on major, essential issues?
My question involves a marriage in the state of: OH
Hello, what is the approximate cost of a divorce (lawyer fees) in which custody is highly contested, and the parents are unable to agree on major, essential issues?
The sky is the limit.
A few real world examples:
1 child, contested, 2+ years in duration: $60,000 (total for both parties) . WA.
2 children, contested, almost 4 years in duration: $285,000 (total for both parties - no, I'm not kidding). CA.
2 children, contested, 3 years (and finally settled out of court): $160,000. CA. And that's considered "cheap".
4 children, contested (then settled) 2 years: $88,000. ND.
Sooooo ... yeah.
Everybody has told you the truth, but that doesn't mean that you should necessarily roll over and play dead either, out of fear of the cost of a contested divorce. What you really need to do is get a feeling for which of you are being realistic vs unrealistic about what you want in terms of the custody issues. There is also the option to represent yourself if you are both willing and able to study hard and be realistic.
Your net worth and your assets also play a role in the course of a divorce. So if you are not wealthy (subjective of course) and there is not much to divide, those issues can be addressed without a great expense. But if you own your own business or are a partner in a business and this is part of the major unresolved issues, it can be quite expensive. If there are major issues on equitable distribution that too can be very expensive.
Bottom line is the more issues you resolve on your own and agree to the less it will cost to litigate them.
You can also attorney shop. There are divorce attorney that will charge flat fees based on what is uncontested and what is not. Google flat fee divorce attorneys in your area.
I disagree. If one spouse is being difficult it can be very a very time-consuming, and therefore expensive, process regardless of assets.
I would not trust any attorney who charges a flat fee for a contested divorce. That's almost as funny as the billboards I see around that say "DIVORCE $399 - spouse's signature not required"!
For me, 1 child in a contested high conflict divorce after 9 months and I am at $50k in debt.
2 children, Florida... 60k+ and two years plus. Ugh but got 99% of everything asked for.