If you’re getting divorced, you won't be surprised to learn that the process can be costly. But you probably want to know more details about that. Just how expensive can divorce be in Maryland? And what can increase or decrease those costs?
The Cost of Divorce Lawyers in Maryland
Many people getting a divorce hire a lawyer to help them through the process. When you work with a lawyer, the lawyer’s fees will be your biggest divorce expense. Two factors go into the total amount of your lawyer's bill: how much the lawyer charges per hour and how many hours it takes to handle the divorce, from start to finish.
How Much Do Maryland Divorce Lawyers Charge per Hour?
In 2019, we studied the fees and billing practices reported by Maryland family law lawyers. The lawyers in our study reported their minimum and maximum hourly rates. Across the state, the average minimum was $260 per hour, while the average maximum was $325 an hour.
Average rates are likely to be higher now. According to Clio, a legal technology company, the average hourly rate for a lawyer practicing family law in Maryland in 2023 was $334. This is higher than the national average hourly rate for family law lawyers in 2023 ($312).
Many factors affect how much an individual attorney will charge per hour, including:
- Location. Lawyers who work in large metropolitan areas with a high cost of living generally charge higher rates than those in smaller towns. You can expect to pay more for legal representation in cities like Baltimore and Columbia than in rural counties like Garrett and Kent.
- Expertise in family law. Experienced attorneys who specialize in family law practice will probably charge more per hour than attorneys who are newer in the field or have a general law practice. However, lawyers with family law expertise are often able to resolve difficult divorce problems more quickly than their less-experienced counterparts, so their total bill won’t necessarily be higher.
- The cost of paralegals and other support staff. Lawyers often rely on paralegals and other support staff for help with legal research and preparing documents to file in court. Support staff can bill for substantive legal work, but typically at much lower rates than attorneys. As reported by Clio in 2023, the average hourly rate for nonlawyers working on cases in Maryland was $175.
What’s the Typical Total Cost for a Maryland Divorce Lawyer?
Most people who hire divorce lawyers choose what’s known as “full-scope” representation, meaning that the attorney handles everything in the case from start to finish. Another option is to work with a consulting attorney who offers "unbundled" or "limited-scope" assistance with a clearly defined part of your case, like reviewing or preparing a divorce settlement agreement.
In 2019 and, before that, in 2015, we surveyed our readers who had recently gotten divorced. Our analysis of the data from our reader surveys and attorney-fee study showed that the total cost of a full-scope attorney in a typical Maryland divorce ranges from about $11,000 to $13,500. You might pay significantly less—or more—depending on the individual circumstances in your case.
How Much Does a DIY or Online Divorce Cost in Maryland?
You don't have to hire a lawyer in Maryland to get a divorce. You can choose to do it yourself or file for divorce online.
Do-It-Yourself Divorce
If you go the DIY route, you'll have to:
- find and complete all of the necessary court forms
- properly serve your spouse with the divorce paperwork
- go to court, and
- get a final divorce decree.
Most Maryland courts have Family Court Help Centers where you can get free legal help. The lawyers who work at the family court help centers can't represent you, but they can help you find the right court forms for your situation and answer questions. You can also call the Maryland Court Help Center (410-260-1392). The People's Law Library in Maryland has a legal services directory and a list of non-profit legal services providers.
Online Divorce
Online divorce is an increasingly popular option for people who want to save themselves time and money. Instead of having to find and fill out all of the divorce forms that apply to your situation, an online divorce service walks you through an online questionnaire and then generates the correct paperwork for you with instructions on how to file it. The cost of online divorce services varies, but it's typically in the $150 to $750 range, with extra charges for additional services (such as filing the paperwork with the court for you). The best services guarantee that your documents will be accepted by the court.
DIY and online divorce aren't appropriate in all situations. You might be a good candidate for these lower-cost options if you and your spouse are divorcing based on "mutual consent" and:
- you're aware of all of your marital assets and have access to your financial records
- your spouse isn't represented by a lawyer, and
- a power imbalance or domestic violence hasn't been a part of the relationship.
How Disputes and Trial Raise the Cost of Divorce in Maryland
Couples often disagree about one or more important issues in their divorce, such as:
These disputes are the biggest reason that some divorces cost more than others. When you and your spouse haven’t been able to agree on these issues, your lawyer will have to spend time collecting financial documents and other information in the process known as discovery. If your spouse doesn’t cooperate with the discovery process, your lawyer may have to prepare motions and attend court hearings on the issue. The same is true if either of you requests a temporary support order. Negotiating a settlement agreement also takes time. And if that doesn’t work, a divorce trial will eat up even more of your lawyer’s time.
To get an idea of how these contested issues affect divorce costs in Maryland, we looked at the average attorneys’ fees under several of the most common situations and learned the following:
- The average total cost of a divorce with no contested issues in Maryland is $4,000 to $5,000.
- The cost rises to an average of $6,000 to $7,000 for couples who have one dispute but are able to reach a settlement.
- Couples with two or more disputes (but still no trial) can expect to pay an average of $10,000 to $12,500.
- When couples weren’t able to settle their disputes, average costs were $13,500-$17,000 for trial on one issue and $18,500-$23,000 for trial on two or more issues.
Filing Fees and Other Divorce Costs
While attorneys’ fees are often the biggest cost of divorce, there are other expenses. Whether you hire a lawyer or not, you'll have to pay court fees to file your divorce papers, unless you request and qualify for a filing fee waiver. Under the Maryland Circuit Court Fee Schedule, the filing fee for divorce is $165, but that fee is subject to change.
Depending on your relationship with your spouse and the number of issues you disagree about, you might also have to pay for:
- mediation
- a child custody evaluation, and
- fees for other experts like certified accountants.
Our national survey showed that the average for these non-lawyer divorce costs is $1,600. Your costs are likely to be higher than that if you have multiple contested issues in your divorce—or lower if you don’t.
How Long Does Divorce Take in Maryland?
In most cases, to get a divorce in Maryland, you or your spouse must live there on the day you file for divorce. The only exception is when the legal cause for the divorce (called "grounds") happened in another state. In that situation, either spouse must have lived in Maryland for six months before the filing date. (Md. Code, Fam. Law § 7-101 (2023); Fletcher v. Fletcher, 619 A.2d 561 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 1993).)
Under Maryland law, there are three legal grounds for divorce:
- mutual consent
- six-month separation, and
- irreconcilable differences.
The fastest ground to pursue is divorce by mutual consent. To file for divorce by mutual consent, you and your spouse must have a written divorce settlement agreement that covers all of the major issues in your divorce. If you can't reach an agreement, you'll have to live separate and apart for six months or file based on irreconcilable differences. (Md. Code, Fam. Law § 7-103 (2023).)
Once you file, Maryland doesn't have a mandatory waiting period before you may get your final divorce. The amount of time your divorce will take depends on the circumstances in your case. An uncontested divorce might only take two or three months to finalize, while contested divorces involving complex legal issues may drag on for a year or more.
Learn more about how to file for divorce in Maryland.
More Information and Resources on Maryland Divorce
If you’re worried about being able to afford a divorce lawyer, it may help to know that in some circumstances, Maryland judges may order one spouse to pay an amount toward the other spouse’s attorney’s fees. (Md. Code, Family Law § 7-107) (2023).) But don't count on that happening. Before you hire a lawyer, ask how realistic it is to expect this to happen in your case before you sign a fee agreement.
In the meantime, follow the links below for more information and resources on divorce in Maryland:
