Fees
Divorce can be one the most expensive and important financial events in your life. I understand that few people can afford litigation in family court, much less years of child and spousal support payments. To help clients pursue their legal interests in family court I offer flat fees for simple uncontested cases and an affordable hourly rate for all other engagements.
Flat Fee
Nearly everyone wants to hire a divorce attorney for a flat fee, but in only a few circumstances is this advisable. The typical flat fee case involves a short duration of marriage, no children, cooperation between the parties and few assets and debts. When these circumstances exist a flat fee divorce attorney can help their client save potentially thousands in attorney fees.
I offer limited scope representation in uncontested divorce cases. My flat fee covers all the documents necessary to file and finalize your divorce. Specifically, I prepare the petition, summons, schedule of assets and debts, income and expense declarations, declaration of disclosure, declaration regarding service of declaration of disclosure, declaration under UCCJEA, and judgment documents.
Hourly Billing
Most clients don’t want to pay their divorce attorney by the hour, but unfortunately hourly billing is the standard in contested cases. In hourly billing the client pays a retainer which the attorney bills against as they work on the case. The client will receive monthly statements showing what tasks the attorney performed, how much time was spent on each task, and how much was billed according to the attorney’s hourly rate. As the divorce attorney continues to work on the client’s case the retainer may become depleted via hourly billing, at which time the client will make another payment to refill the balance of the retainer.
I understand that hourly billing can be unpredictable and costly for my clients at a time when their financial future may depend heavily upon effective legal representation. To help clients protect their legal interests at an affordable rate I charge an affordable hourly rate of $300 per hour and accept credit card payments.