According to the Huffington Post, with attorney fees, filing fees, real estate recording fees, refinancing fees, mediation fees, evaluator fees, and co-parenting classes, the average divorce in Minnesota costs from $15,000-$20,000. Yes, that is a lot of money which most people do not take lightly. Before, you start contemplating how your parents are going to respond to your loan request or thinking about how quickly you can liquidate your retirement account, consider the following tips for keeping costs down:
1. Contemplate ala carte legal services. Ideally, most clients want an attorney who deals with all the phone calls, document compilation, letters, and drafting related to a family law matter, but that may not be in every client’s budget. Ala Carte representation allows a client to pick and choose which services a client needs. For example, some client’s feel comfortable representing themselves at hearings, but are a little nervous about preparing their own documents. In that situation, a client can employ an attorney simply to put together the required documents. Other clients may have attended mediation and want an attorney to draft the agreement that came out of mediation. While full representation can be the best choice, ala carte allows clients access to affordable, legal advice which fits their budget.
2. Provide documents and information in the manner and time frame requested. In my practice, one common financial drain for clients is when my office requests a document or information and the client fails to provide it within a timely manner. For example, I need pay stubs in child support modification cases. The pay stubs are requested in the information request form clients are provided with at the onset of representation. If a client provides those documents with the information request form, they have incurred no additional fees. But often, clients fail to provide the pay stubs which means one, two, or ten additional requests which can add significant fees to a case.
3. Evaluate your motive and reasoning of your objectives. While not always, divorces and custody actions are initiated because one or both parties did or have been doing something “wrong” whether it be an affair, an inability to get help for an addiction or mental health problem, or one party misusing family resources .Rightfully, one or both parties are sad and/or angry which often expresses itself in the litigation (i.e. “you cheated and I will get everything in the divorce”). If you feel like that you might be in one of those situations, talking to family, friends, a therapist, or your attorney, might help you determine a more appropriate (and almost always cost saving) course of action.
4. If possible, try to work with your ex-spouse or ex-partner to come to agreements. Many people are unaware that they can literally just talk to the other party and try to resolve remaining issues with the guidance of their attorneys. As long as the agreement meets certain legal requirements, clients are surprised by how much leeway is given by the courts.
5. Consider Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”). In family law, we use two main sources of ADR: the ENE process and mediation. They can be used to resolve both financial and issues evolving children. Neither of these processes is binding, but they allow the parties to talk informally while being guided, in varying degrees, by one or two professionals. The ENE process as well as evaluative mediation provides the parties with an opinion regarding the merits of their position and how a court would likely handle the case. For cases with complex issues relating to the children, child focused mediation is an option. While ADR does not work for all situations, many clients have been able to resolve all or some of their family law issues in a single session and employ an attorney simply to draft the agreement.
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