Settling a divorce before it goes to trial is the best case scenario, because it enables you to avoid a financially and emotionally-draining courtroom experience. Once you and your spouse have agreed on all the pertinent terms of your divorce, however, you need to reduce that agreement to writing. Although most states offer fill-in-the-blank style divorce agreement forms, going to a divorce lawyer is vastly preferable. An experienced lawyer can prepare the paperwork for you, and will also be able to point out issues you may not have considered. The exact cost for this service will depend on a number of factors, spelled out below.
Unbundled Legal Services and Other Fees
Some, but not all states permit lawyers to offer what’s known as unbundled legal services (also referred to as limited-scope representation), which means that the lawyer provides a very specific scope of work—for example, drafting a divorce agreement—and performs that work for a fixed fee. This contrasts with hiring a divorce lawyer to represent you from start to finish.
Even in states where unbundled legal services aren’t allowed yet, spouses can still work with lawyers to have a divorce agreement written up for a fixed fee or at an hourly rate. (To get an idea of typical hourly rates, see the results of our survey on how much divorce lawyers charge.)
The fees for this kind of work vary widely. As the complexity of the case increases, so does the cost. If children are involved or if the spouses have a complex mix of assets and liabilities, the cost to prepare the paperwork will rise. On the other hand, a childless couple with very few assets and liabilities will probably pay less.
Who Does the Lawyer Represent?
The lawyer who’s asked to draft a divorce agreement works with both spouses to complete the necessary paperwork, but technically can only represent one of the spouses. In most cases, the lawyer will represent the “plaintiff” or “petitioner,” who is the spouse that asked for the divorce.
However, some couples don’t like the idea of one person being a plaintiff or petitioner, and the other being a defendant or respondent. For these people, there is the option to prepare the divorce paperwork as “coplaintiffs,” “copetitioners,” “joint plaintiffs,” or “joint respondents.” The divorce papers that the attorney has to complete are identical in all respects, except for how the parties are named.
Proceedings
Once the lawyer has prepared the paperwork, it must be filed with the court, notarized, and assigned a file number. There are fees associated with this, which are unavoidable.
In most states, if a couple is childless, then their divorce is handled “administratively,” meaning that the paperwork will be signed by a judge without a court hearing. But when a couple has children or has an unusually complicated agreement, they typically have to go to court and put their agreement “on the record,” meaning it'll be written down by the court reporter and signed and approved by a judge.
If a hearing is necessary, the lawyer who drafted the agreement generally comes along, and may charge an hourly fee for the court appearance. The lawyer places the plaintiff (or coplaintiffs, if need be) on the stand and asks about each term of the divorce agreement. The spouses testify under oath that they agree with each term of the agreement, and the judge signs it. Most people need a certified copy of the final divorce, and there is a small charge associated with getting it.