How much does a divorce cost?

I am being tongue in cheek here, but my lawyer did mention something like "your divorce will cost you as much as you can afford". Personally, I would say it could cost you more than you can afford. Every discussion, every negotiation, every disagreement will cost you or someone time and, hence, money. Mediation can help keep costs in control, but it takes two to mediate effectively.

Update: I remember what he said - it was almost 20 years ago. I was inquiring about some issue in contention and he said: "Do you want to give me your house?"

There really is no ballpark figure for how much this will cost because many factors are involved that can make it really cheap or really expensive.

Things to consider:

State/local filing fees

Attorney's fees or mediation fees

Do you intend to do any legwork yourself to minimize the expense? I.e. obtaining, completing, and filing court documents. Some documents are quite simple to do on your own and would not be subject to the costs related to your attorney's billable time on your case.

How much paid/unpaid time you must take from work to get through the divorce process.

The longer it takes to reach settlement, the more it will cost.

I did my divorce via a mediator and filed all of the court documents myself. This was in 2001 and it cost roughly $2,200. A co-worker spent 3 years in settlement/custody negotiations in the mid-90s and it cost him $50,000. Quite a gap in the two situations.

I heard a figure on a radio show recently that said the average mediation costs $4,000 and an average divorce costs $27,000.

Hope this answer helps to ballpark it a bit for you.

That depends on a number of things: (1) where you live; (2) how good your lawyer is; (3) whether or not you have children, property and other assets; (4) and most importantly, the willingness of your spouse to cooperate. If they don't, it will take forever and it will cost you a mint. I know a guy whose wife had him hung up in court for 3 years and it cost him over $100,000 to finally get rid of her

It depends on where you live and whether you have assets or not. If not assets than you can go pro-per or pay for a para legal. If you have assets than you should get a lawyer. Since you did not indicate where you live it would be hard to tell you as each state has its own cost. Look up the Superior Court of your state and go to the self service link there you should find all the forms, costs and etc. Most also have deferment or waiver if you cannot pay for it right away. You can also get info for the Courts law Library and the County Clerk office. Just do not ask legal questions as they will not answer them, only about forms and costs is what they will answer.

an arm and a leg. Often times, your heart too.

Sadly, sometimes it is worth it. Looking back, my divorce was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was surprised, life did go on. The banks opened the next day, so did Walmart. The rest of the world went on just like nothing had happened!

I did discover later, there IS someone for everyone.

It will cost you roughly 50% of your net assets plus legal fees. Sometimes, only if you are still on speaking terms with your wife, the two of you could reach a settlement between the two of you, ithout lawyers and mediators.

When I divorced my wife she kept the family home and I kept all the other assets like the business, the shares and the beach house.

I have 3 children and a wife, that does not want to get a divorce. I have full custody of my 3 children and a scheduled divorce date and property settlement. So, here's what I paid and my answer if you are a Dad and want your children be prepared to spend a min. of 50,000.00 just on custody and then another 15,000.00 to settle the divorce. That is what I paid and worth every cent.

Great Answers posted here! Thx.

My divorce costs were epic..... between my Ex and I, just around $300,000.00, not withstanding all the emotional roller-coaster rides during the nearly two years. In my case, I spent the first nearly 6 mos w/out an attorney, my Ex had a known barracuda, however each court visit seemed to be moving in a positive direction....right up until my Ex kept wanting more .. and more .. and more - and then she dropped the mother of all bombs wanting and demanding to have full legal and physical custody of the kids. My story unfortunately is a sad and unfortunate situation, but suffice to say, I think forums of this nature is very important to help those considering divorce... to use the KISS policy .. Keep It Simple Silly (stupid ..lol).

You and your spouse need to get over whatever the fight is and make it amicable for everyone involved and for your finances! Split your stuff 50/50%, come up with a fair monthly spousal payment..that neither of you will likely agree on, however understand that TWO separate households and expenses will need to be paid for, so don't expect the "earning" spouse to pay through the nose... that may satisfy one spouse initially, however in the majority of cases it will eventually hurt and harm everyone.

So How much do divorces costs? Between what I have experienced and several friends, the costs is all over the map, however the answers on this blog are pretty right on.

Based on CA only:
Easy Divorce / No Attorney in : Should be no more than $1,000 - $2,000
Easy Divorce / Shared Attorney to help draft documents and complete through court .. Should be around $3,000 - $5,000
Easy Divorce / Each one has Attorney: Basically Double the above numbers ~ $10,000
Moderate Divorce: $15K - $30K
Difficult Divorce: $30K-$100K
Contentious High Conflict Divorce: $100K Plus .. and again in my case, total cost so far for both attorney's $300K

Costs:
Filings: ~ $400 - $500 - Initial Filing Fee w/ Clerk,
Additional Motions ($40),
Process Server's Fees ($50)
Extra Copies (need 3 copies, one for clerk, one for petitioner /respondent, Serving, etc:

ATTORNEY'S: Retainer $5K - $10K w/ a per hour cost of $250 - $500 / Hour
Phone Calls, Emails, Fax's, Written Documents ... charge on fractions for their hourly charge. Don't forget that both attorney's are more than happy to talk to you about the weather etc, etc .. but don't forget that they are typically logging those hours and will charge you against your "Retainer" and then ask you for more!

Contested Issues ~ approx cost per visit to the court: Filing's / Prepping / Discussions w/ you about the case / Going Court: ~ $2,500 - $5,000 not including experts, if needed.

Vocational Evaluation - To determine your "Ability to Earn" ... not necessarily what you truly earn: $2,500.00 (however this cost is usually split between parties).. not including lost work, driving to and from Evaluator etc, etc

730 Evaluation (Very Specific Evaluation to help the court determine very specific issues) $7,500.00

Physiologist Forensic Specialists: $5,000 - $15,000 or more

Lost Work / Travel Expenses / Misc "crap" ... $$$$

Human Toll on you and your children - Priceless!

Your Home / Assets - If you have wonderful equity and $$$ and attorney's are involved... you can bet that the majority of Attorney's (not all), are going to take note and will fight until all the cash is used up ... and then there is no more fight! I know as this was the case in my situation.

All for what? GREED

Hug your children .. from a loving Father to Both Moms and Dads...

Too much

If you have no property or children and the divorce is uncontested, the cheapest divorce you can get is in the ballpark of $500.

I can give you a accurate answer based on all the paperwork, courts cost, stamps, legal documents and such. A Divorce in all of the states is much more expensive than the cost of getting married. After that it is up to you and the more work you do to familiarize yourself with the case and legal or non legal options, the less you would spend. But if you chose to go to court, no matter how well you are prepared, predicting the outcome is as reliable predicting the outcome of playing "CRAPS". The unknown is the judge thoughts. Am I feeling lucky today. Naturally you can 'make a appeal', just add money, the main ingredient for "making appeals" (a joke).

Always best to avoid attorneys whenever possible in divorce. Make an agreement in advance with spouse to that effect, and be sure that both people can stick to it. Hope you are able to judge this well, or you may be out of luck. But in such case, you may have bigger problems than just a divorce.