Minimizing Divorce Expenses
Are you considering divorce and want to find out what options are available for minimizing divorce expenses? Watch this video by experienced Jamestown divorce lawyer Scott Humble to learn more about how to make divorce more affordable.
I see a lot of divorce clients and to be frank, most of them are very concerned about what it is going to cost. I understand that. You have to understand, right up front, you’re filing fees – and this is not including a service on the defendant of the paperwork. Just your filing fees alone are going to be between 4 and $500. Right now, I think we’re somewhere around $412, $420, something like that. Of course, that may change. It always seems to go up; it never goes down.
Keeping that in mind, that’s a substantial expense, but then you’ve got the attorney’s fees, obviously, that you’re concerned about. The least expensive way is what I call “on the papers” or a default divorce. That’s where the other side doesn’t go and fight on what we’re going to do, as far as doing the default divorce. Once there becomes a fight and they hire an attorney, it goes from a default situation to a litigation. It’s kind of like non-litigation to litigation, or a non-fight to a fight, and that is definitely going to cost more money.
Let me explain two types of retainers that we have, and that would be a flat-fee or an hourly fee. I like to keep people in the flat-fee area because that way they know exactly how much the fee is going to be and it works out to their benefit. It’s a set amount, pick a number, and that is going to be it as far as your attorney’s fees on a divorce. However, once the other side goes to an attorney and it becomes a fight, everything changes. You get credit for what you’ve paid, but then it becomes an hourly unit I’m paid and you’re billed. One thing you might want to keep in mind is that hiring a Chautauqa County divorce attorney may be a good idea if you’re really concerned about the fees because once you go to a big city, you’re going to pay at least a hundred dollars more an hour than here.
Are you going through a divorce and want to learn about minimizing divorce expenses? Contact experienced Jamestown divorce lawyer Scott F. Humble for a free confidential consultation. Let his 30+ years of experience work for you.
