Divorce isn’t easy, but many people are surprised to find it isn’t cheap either. In Wisconsin, the average litigated divorce costs $11,300 per party. If you have children, that average cost shoots up to $16,900 per person. As an average, your cost could be lower, but it could be much higher. In extremely difficult litigated divorces, attorney fees upward of $30,000-$40,000 aren’t unheard of it. So what makes divorce so expensive? It comes down to the length of your divorce, level of conflict, and number of complicating issues. Let’s explore each in detail.

A Lengthy Litigated Divorce is an Expensive Divorce

Nearly all family law attorneys are paid on an hourly basis. Whenever they work on your case drafting documents, speaking to the other attorney or Court, or researching your case, your bill is getting bigger. By definition then, the longer you take in your divorce and the less helpful you are, the more you’ll spend paying attorney fees. For example, if you don’t get back to your attorney promptly, they may make other attempts to get the info you need without you. While it costs you nothing to track down your records, letting your attorney do it will cost $210 an hour. If you force your attorney to spend time emailing, calling, and otherwise tracking you down, you’re paying for their effort, literally. The more helpful you can be in supplying information, records and other help, the quicker the process will go and the less you will spend.

Communication Can Be Costly

We all want to know what’s happening with our case and what progress has been made. However with an attorney, you still pay the hourly fee for meetings, phone calls and emails. The more you reach out to your attorney, the more you will spend. This isn’t the case with all divorces. In divorce mediation, communication is included free with the process – no hourly fees apply to emails or calls with the Divorce Mediator. With an attorney, you have to balance your need for information and answers to your questions with the cost of every call you make or email you send.

More Conflict Leads to Bigger Bills

One influence on divorce costs that you can help influence is the level of conflict. Any litigated divorce is inherently confrontational to a degree, however the more conflict involved, the more you typically will pay in attorney’s fees. Every time you file a motion in retaliation for something your spouse does, file for contempt, send a nasty email or text, or otherwise further conflict, you pay… either directly through attorney fees now, or down the road through a slower, more drawn out process. They respond to your motion, your respond in kind, and you both owe an additional $1,000 in fees. Take the high road, even when you don’t want to, and you could significantly reduce your final bill.

Property, Children & Alimony Slows Things Down

The more issues there are to decide upon in your divorce, the more you’ll typically pay. Having children, property division or alimony issues all lead to higher than average attorney fees. It takes times for the Court to hear evidence and decide on each of these issues. Even if you are able to reach a settlement it will still take longer to negotiate them one by one. In cases with many complexities like shared businesses, children, property or debt issues, you can usually save thousands by trying divorce mediation instead.

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