How Much Will My Case Cost?

How much your case will cost depends on many factors. Those factors include, but are not limited to (1) your ability to deal civilly with your spouse and to work together to resolve issues; (2) the complexity of your case (including, for example, whether there are disputes about custody or parenting time, whether one party owned an asset before the marriage that still exists in some form, the disposition of any gifts or inheritances received during the marriage, valuation disputes, and disputes about spousal support); (3) your ability to partner with your lawyer to timely provide financial documents and other information necessary to resolve your case; (4) the professionalism, skills, and judgment of your spouse’s lawyer; and (5) the willingness of your spouse and his or her lawyer to engage in settlement negotiations and mediation in good faith.

Your ability to focus on a professional, business-like resolution of your case will help you keep your costs down. It also helps if you are able to organize your communications to your lawyer, to ask questions in writing via email or letter, and to consolidate them, so that you are asking several questions in each communication, instead of calling or emailing one or two questions more frequently.