How Much Is This Going to Cost Me? Pricing a Divorce in the Shoals
I’ll shoot you straight: there is no drive-thru menu with flat-rate combo prices for a divorce. But I can tell you exactly how the billing and costs work under Alabama law so you don’t get blindsided.
The Golden Rule: No Contingency Fees in Divorce First things first, unlike those personal injury lawyers you see on billboards, family law attorneys cannot take a percentage of your settlement. Alabama's ethical rules clearly state that a lawyer cannot charge a contingency fee that is based on securing your divorce, the amount of alimony or child support you receive, or the property settlement you get.
How You Actually Pay Your Lawyer Instead of a contingency fee, you will typically sign a fee agreement where the cost is based on the actual time the attorney spends working on your case at a set hourly rate. To get the ball rolling, your attorney will require you to pay an "initial fee deposit"—what most folks call a retainer—which gets applied against your account as the work is done.
The "Extra" Out-of-Pocket Expenses Beyond paying for my dazzling legal advice and time, there are out-of-pocket expenses required to prepare and file your case. These include courthouse filing fees, costs for process servers (the folks who hand your ex the paperwork), subpoena fees, and court reporter fees if we have to take depositions,.
We might also incur costs for mediation. In Alabama, mandatory mediation prior to a trial is required in certain circumstances. If we have to bring in a mediator to help settle your dispute, the law generally requires the party who asked for the mediation to pay the costs of it, unless the two of you agree to split it.
Can I Make My Ex Pay My Legal Bills? I hear this all the time: “Drew, my spouse caused this mess by running around town. Can I make them pay my lawyer?”
The short answer is: Maybe. Under Alabama Code § 30-2-54, the judge has the discretion to order one spouse to pay a reasonable sum for the other's attorney's fees. However, this isn't a guarantee just because you're mad at them. To get the judge to award an attorney's fee, we have to prove to the court two things: first, that you actually have a financial need for the help, and second, that your spouse actually has the financial ability to pay it.
The Price of Fighting At the end of the day, the biggest factor in the cost of your divorce is... you and your spouse. If you can sit down at the kitchen table and agree on how to split the pots, pans, and retirement accounts, it keeps your costs relatively low.
But if you want to fight tooth and nail in court over who gets the velvet Elvis painting, the bill goes up fast. To give you an idea of how crazy it can get when folks really battle it out over assets and custody, Alabama appellate courts have affirmed attorney's fee awards ranging from $25,000 all the way up to over $145,000 in extreme, highly litigated cases!
The Bottom Line Divorce isn't cheap, but staying miserable might cost you more in the long run. If you need someone to help you navigate the process efficiently without breaking the bank, give my Florence office a call. We’ll sit down, talk about your specific situation, and put together a plan.
Until next time, keep your chin up and Roll Tide (or War Eagle)!
