Ending a marriage is rarely a cheap undertaking. Depending on your assets and whether or not you and your spouse have children, the financial cost of terminating your union can rival the emotional one. In extreme cases, a divorce can drag on for years and cost each spouse tens of thousands of dollars. While you may not be able to end your marriage cheaply, there are a few things you can do to reduce the expenses you’ll incur when reclaiming your single status.
Pre-Divorce Discussions
One major cost couples face during a divorce is the cost of legal counsel. The less time you spend with your attorney, the cheaper your divorce will be. If you and your spouse agree on the divorce, sitting down together and working out as many of the property division and child custody issues as possible before filing your divorce paperwork saves your attorney time at the negotiation table. In turn, this saves you both money.
Mediation
Not all couples are able to work out divorce issues amongst each other. Provided you and your spouse agree, mediation is a cheaper alternative to letting your individual attorneys do all the work. An average mediation session costs anywhere from $100 to $300. Thus, the total cost of mediation depends upon how many sessions you and your spouse need to resolve any lingering disputes.
If you aren’t comfortable with sitting down face-to-face with your spouse and discussing the divorce, that does not mean that mediation is not possible. Professional online mediation is an option for warring couples or those whose busy schedules don’t leave time for traditional mediation appointments.
Attorney Billing Questions
Choosing the right attorney has a considerable impact on your final bill following the divorce. While you want an experienced attorney who looks out for your best interests, you also want an attorney whose billing practices don’t leave you in the poorhouse.
Attorneys generally charge by the hour for their services. Because tracking the exact time an attorney spends on your case can be difficult, some attorneys round the time they spend on certain aspects of your divorce, such as telephone calls and filling out paperwork, up to the nearest hour. This practice can inflate your final bill by anywhere from 15 to 30 percent. Asking the right questions about an attorney’s billing practices helps you avoid hidden expenses.
Filing Paperwork
Not all divorces involve thousands of dollars’ worth of property division or a heated child custody battle. If you have no children and own little or no property, your divorce is a much simpler process. Provided you and your spouse can work out the existing property division yourselves, you have the option of filing the divorce paperwork without the aid of an attorney. While you are still responsible for filing fees and court costs, you and your spouse avoid the high attorney fees that make the cost of many divorces hard for both parties to bear.
Even if you and your spouse can no longer have a civil discussion, saving money is one thing you should both be able to agree on. Making smart choices during the divorce process won’t necessarily leave you with a cheap divorce, but it will soften the financial blow each of you suffers. You can then put the money you saved into rebuilding your life after the divorce is final.