If you’re thinking about getting a divorce or are already in the process, you probably have a lot of questions, including how much hiring a divorce lawyer might cost you.
In 2019, we surveyed our readers who’d recently been through a divorce. Here’s what we learned about the different ways they used lawyers and how much they paid for legal help.
How Divorce Attorneys Charge Fees
In our 2019 survey, 85% of readers who hired legal help had their lawyer handle their entire divorce from start to finish (known as “full-scope representation”). Full-scope attorneys typically charge by the hour, rather than offering a flat fee for a divorce. Hourly billing ensures lawyers are paid for the actual time they spend on a case.
Another option is to hire a consulting attorney to provide “limited scope” or “unbundled” services. Consulting attorneys can help you with a clearly defined part of your case, such as drafting or reviewing a divorce settlement. Consulting attorneys may charge by the hour or offer flat fees for specific services, like conducting legal research or preparing you for mediation.
Total Cost of a Full-Scope Divorce Attorney
Overall, the readers we surveyed in 2019 paid an average of $11,300 in attorneys' fees when they hired full-scope divorce lawyers. If that sounds like a lot, it’s worth pointing out that the average was pushed up by a small number of people who paid very high fees. A more complete breakdown of the numbers revealed the following:
- The median (the midpoint at which half paid less and half paid more) was $7,000 in attorneys' fees.
- More than 4 in 10 readers (42%) paid $5,000 or less.
- Nearly 3 in 10 (28%) paid between $6,000 and $10,000.
In our survey, readers with disputes over alimony were most likely to hire full-scope attorneys (75%). But other common disputes weren’t far behind: child custody (70%) and division of debts or property (70% and 68%, respectively).
Average Hourly Rates Charged by Divorce Attorneys
On average, the readers in our 2019 survey paid their divorce attorneys $270 per hour. But that was the overall average across the country. Hourly rates vary significantly from state to state and are based on many factors, including the individual attorney’s years of experience and specialized training or certifications.
Hourly rates are likely to be higher now. According to Clio, a legal technology company, the national average hourly rate for a family law attorney in 2023 was $312. Average hourly rates are higher than the national average in high-population states like New York ($387) and California ($384) and lower than average in smaller states like West Virginia ($258) and Maine ($254).
Factors That Affect the Cost of a Divorce Lawyer
Hourly rates are only part of your total lawyer’s bill. The second critical part will be the number of total hours your attorney has to spend on your case, which hinges on two important factors: whether you and your spouse can resolve your disputes without going to trial, and how long it takes to finalize the divorce.
If you and your soon-to-be ex agree on how to settle all of the significant issues in your divorce—such as alimony, child support and custody, and dividing your property—you can expect to spend much less on attorneys’ fees than if you have to fight over these matters.
Disputes and Trial
We looked at the impact of disputes involving important issues on divorce costs in our 2019 survey and learned the following:
- Readers who hired a full-scope attorney but had no contested issues paid an average of $4,000 in fees.
- The average total rose to $10,400 for readers who had at least one dispute but managed to resolve their disagreements without going to trial.
- That total jumped to $17,700 for readers who went to trial on at least one issue.
The Length of the Divorce Process
You’ll end up paying your lawyer more in fees when your divorce case drags on. Our 2019 survey revealed just how much of a financial difference it makes when you and your spouse take a long time to resolve your disputes. Average total fees ranged from $6,500 for divorces that were completed in less than six months to $23,000 for cases that took more than 30 months.
There are several reasons divorces can take a long time, including the number and type of contested issues, how cooperative you and your spouse are, the combativeness of your attorneys, the amount of time needed to gather evidence about things like complex finances or custody issues, and whether you go to trial.
What Do Attorneys Bill For?
Your attorney will likely charge you an hourly rate, billed in increments of six minutes (one-tenth of an hour), for everything the attorney does in connection with your case, including:
- talking with you (whether in person, by phone, text, or email)
- communicating with opposing counsel or with your self-represented spouse
- conducting discovery
- performing legal research
- working with expert witnesses
- preparing for and attending mediation
- drafting motions and potentially a divorce settlement agreement
- preparing for and appearing at court hearings and trial, and
- preparing post-divorce judgment paperwork.
Retainers for Divorce Lawyers
A retainer fee is an advance payment made by a client for future legal services. Almost all divorce lawyers will ask for a retainer fee when they are hired. The amount of the retainer fee depends on the lawyer’s hourly rate and the lawyer’s estimate of the number of hours a particular case will take.
Retainers are put in special trust accounts that lawyers deduct from only when they earn fees for the services they provide. If a lawyer spends more time on a case than anticipated, the client will have to replenish the retainer as the case progresses. If the case takes less time than the lawyer estimated, the lawyer will return the unearned portion of the retainer to the client.
According to LegalScoops, the average retainer fee in a divorce case as of 2022 ranged from $3,000 to $5,000. Of the readers in our 2019 survey who hired an attorney in any capacity, 9 out of 10 said they paid a retainer.
Sharing Legal Fees in Divorces
In most states, family law judges may order one spouse to pay for part of the other spouse’s attorney fees. This typically happens when there’s a big income disparity between spouses and the spouse with less income needs help to level the playing field.
These “needs-based” orders weren’t that common among the people we surveyed in 2019; only 19% of readers said that either their ex paid some of their attorneys’ fees or they paid some of their ex’s fees.
Filing Fees and Other Divorce Costs
In addition to what you pay your lawyer, your divorce will involve other expenses. You’ll have to pay a fee to file your divorce paperwork with the court, unless you request and qualify for a fee waiver. Filing fees vary from state to state (and even county to county in some states), but they typically range from about $100 to over $400.
Other potential divorce expenses include:
- mediation costs
- a child custody evaluation, and
- fees for experts like forensic accountants and appraisers.
Our 2019 survey showed that the average for all of these costs was $1,580 for each spouse's share. However, that average was pushed up by the relatively small proportion of readers (10%) who had very high costs ($5,000 or more, in addition to their attorneys’ fees). The median amount of non-attorney costs—the middle of the range, where half paid less and half paid more—was $500.
Why do some divorcing couples have higher costs than others? When there are difficult disputes to resolve in a case, the fees can get very expensive. In our survey, readers paid an average of $1,600 in non-attorney costs when they had at least one contested issue but managed to settle their disagreements; that average jumped to $2,750 for those who went to trial on at least one issue.
Your lawyer will typically bill you for these other divorce costs (although you may be asked to pay experts or mediators directly). Look closely at the fee agreement with your attorney; it should contain specific information on how costs will be handled. Costs and fees should be part of what you discuss in your initial consultation.
Can You Represent Yourself in a Divorce?
Not everyone needs (or can afford) a divorce lawyer. Other options include representing yourself, using an online divorce service, and going to mediation. One-third (33%) of our readers surveyed in 2019 completed their divorces without a lawyer.
For help choosing the right path for your divorce, you can check out Divorcenet’s quiz.
