How Much Does It Cost To Get Divorce In California

What is the average cost of a divorce in California?

The boilerplate cost of divorce in California is about $17,500, while the national average is about $15,000. You lot might pay simply a $435 filing fee or end upward in a courtroom battle costing tens or fifty-fifty hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This article will aid you understand what to expect before you initiate divorce proceedings.

A quick notation before we begin: the divorce procedure in California closely mirrors the dissolution of a domestic partnership, so if yous telephone call information technology quits with your domestic partner rather than your spouse, the same information applies.

Factors That Impact Divorce Cost

At present you know that the toll tag varies from divorce case to divorce case, simply where volition you and your divorce country?

At that place's no way to tell the exact amount you'll spend on your particular California divorce process, but understanding the factors in computing cost can greatly enhance your estimation abilities.

Factor one: Contested or Uncontested?

Probably the unmarried biggest gene determining the cost of your divorce instance is whether it's contested or uncontested.

In short, contested versus uncontested divorces come downwards to whether you and your spouse require intervention from a California court in order to settle each family law matter like kid custody, child support, spousal back up, and the sectionalisation of marital holding (assets accrued between when you got married and your legal separation date).

A contested divorce is probably what you remember of when you think of divorce. In this model, you and your spouse each accept your own family law attorney, and the sky's the limit concerning your legal fees.

A good lawyer can be an enormous expense, but sometimes, unfortunately, it's a necessary ane. Hell hath no fury like a divorcing spouse, and if your ex gets aggressive, y'all'll demand an ambitious expert in divorce police force.

On the other hand, if you and your spouse tin can reach an agreement without intervention from the court, y'all are said to have undergone an uncontested divorce.

Unsurprisingly, an uncontested divorce is much faster and less expensive than a contested divorce. One reason for this is that if your divorce is uncontested, yous may be eligible for what's called a summary dissolution.

As the name implies, this is a sort of abbreviated divorce procedure. Besides reaching a settlement understanding yourselves, you must also be married for less than five years, take no children (and therefore child custody bug), have limited debts and assets, and both concord to waive spousal support to be eligible.

If you become for this choice, you and your spouse volition file a joint petition together rather than a traditional divorce petition followed by a response.

Usually, neither party hires a divorce lawyer for an uncontested divorce. Sometimes divorcing couples will pay for just an hour or two with a divorce attorney to obtain some basic legal communication just then exercise the bulk of the piece of work themselves or through an online platform.

Factor two: Kids or No Kids?

Whether or not yous're preparing to appoint in a contentious child custody boxing, the existence can hugely impact how much you tin can wait to spend on your California divorce.

First of all, equally discussed above, merely having children, regardless of whether you and your spouse agree on a child support and custody arrangement, can prohibit summary dissolution.

This probably means that there will exist a longer catamenia of fourth dimension between your initial divorce filing and when you are granted a divorce decree. You will definitely accept to fill out more than divorce paperwork, but too unexpected problems tin ascend in the extra time spent waiting for a divorce judgment.

Even so, what makes an even bigger departure than your eligibility for summary dissolution are child custody issues and child support.

Having children makes information technology much more likely that you lot will end upward in court. After all, people tend to experience a lot more emotional (and therefore aggressive) nearly child back up and custody than they do almost, say, spousal back up.

Money comes and goes. Your kids are irreplaceable.

Even if you lot're not looking at a litigated divorce, the extra fourth dimension spent hammering out a custody system with someone similar a mediator tin can still increment costs over time.

Gene three: What Divorce Method You Choose

Litigation

Near people are familiar with the concepts of divorce arbitration and litigation, merely did you know that your options don't terminate there? Each model of the divorce process has pros and cons, and expenses may fall into either category.

You'll want to do your own research, but outset, let's get familiar with the different types of divorce and the range of their associated costs.

Litigation is unremarkably your priciest choice. In this divorce model, you'll each rent a divorce attorney.

When engaging in litigation, the duration of your divorce proceedings is highly determinative of the overall expense.

The budgetary price is definitely a con for litigation, just that can pale compared to emotional costs. Basically, the merely reason you lot should always litigate is if your spouse is already being uncooperative.

Collaborative Divorce

Your adjacent almost expensive option is by and large collaborative divorce. This method is similar to mediation in that you and your spouse volition negotiate in a room with professional assistance.

Nevertheless, collaborative divorce is pricier than divorce mediation because that help will come from more than i professional. First of all, you and your spouse will each rent an attorney, and you'll each be responsible for your own attorney's fees.

You'll besides ordinarily have 2 divorce coaches, who are typically mental wellness professionals. Beyond that, yous might hire accountants, kid specialists, or real manor agents to help yous sort out a deal, including custody and parenting fourth dimension.

Speaking of which, despite the significant expense of the collaborative method, it is a valuable option for parents with significant custody disagreements who desire to avoid an epic custody boxing.

We'll tell you what perhaps your chaser won't: staying out of court is one of the nearly important things yous can exercise for the emotional well-existence of your children. There are much meliorate ways to demonstrate your devotion to them than starting a war.

Returning to the cost issue, the collaborative procedure typically costs between $25,000 and $50,000, which may or may not cost less than if y'all and your spouse were to hire an attorney and head to court.

You lot'll spend much less time negotiating, but you'll pay several more professionals for every hour of negotiation.

Mediation

The next most expensive option is mediation. Mediators are usually mental health professionals or attorneys, typically charging their usual hourly rates for their services.

If your mediator is a mental wellness professional person, this volition ordinarily run you between $100 and $250 per hr. If your mediator is an attorney, you lot can expect their hourly fees to fall between $250 and $950.

The local cost of living is highly determinative of what you tin look to pay inside these ranges (a Los Angeles mediator volition run you more than 1 in Bakersfield, for instance).

When all is said and done, you will likely owe fees somewhere between $1500 and $10,000.

DIY Divorce

Your least expensive divorce selection is DIY divorce. This divorce method has 2 flavours. Commencement, at that place'south a true DIY divorce, in which you pay only the court filing fees and fill out the forms yourself.

This might be a good pick for yous if you and your spouse have had a short-term marriage and one or both of you is comfy with basic math and legal language.

We really stress that last particular. While saving money can be very highly-seasoned, this is a stressful fourth dimension, and yous might not want to find yourself personally at the mercy of the court clerk.

Forms get kicked for all kinds of reasons, from mathematical errors to misspellings

Don't hire an attorney yet, though, because in that location is some other low-cost selection for your uncontested divorce.

Online Divorce

If you and your spouse are in basic understanding but would rather leave the forms up to family law experts, then an online divorce with Divorce.com might exist the best selection for you.

Y'all'll pay a flat fee here, and so you'll know exactly what your legal fees will amount to from the very outset.

No attorney is needed!

FAQ

How much is a divorce lawyer in California?

Litigation isn't ever equally scary every bit it is in the movies, merely divorce attorney fees tin definitely get pretty high. In reality, attorneys' fees volition usually be betwixt $250 and $950 per hr, depending on what part of California you live in and how complex your case is, with the initial retainer fee falling between $2500 and $25,000.

How much does a divorce cost in California without a lawyer?

The basic toll of filing divorce forms in California is $435. Still, you may take to pay additional court filing fees for a more complicated case or if your county charges additional fees.

What other expenses contribute to the cost of divorce in California?

The cost of living where you reside is the first significant factor to consider when y'all're trying to effigy out what you tin look to pay. Not only practice things like your attorney'south hourly rate correspond to the local cost of living, but even basic court fees can also differ from county to county.

Special circumstances might likewise impact how much you pay. For case, exercise you need a forensic accountant to figure out what kind of money you and your spouse actually have? Perhaps you need to listing your house for sale to dissever your assets.

These expenses tin definitely add upwardly over time.

Source: https://divorce.com/blog/cost-of-divorce-california/