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Divorce Attorney Fee Calculator

Estimate your costs to retain a divorce law firm in California.

Which type of legal help are you seeking?

Costs for completing your divorce are displayed by default. Choose "Post-Judgement" if you've already obtained your divorce and are seeking counsel for issues arising post-divorce.

Dissolution (Divorce)
Post Judgment (Post-Divorce)

Circumstances of Your Divorce		Legal Implications Affecting Total Cost
Minor children of the relationship? Biological and/or Adopted	Yes No	Additional forms, docs, and issues that need to be resolved
Do you have a written agreement? Either digital or on paper. Verbal agreements tend to be disputed down the line.	Yes No	Agreements need to be in writing and cover important details. Oral agreements tend to skip over these details, resulting in future disputes.
Are you or is your spouse self-employed? Sole proprietorship, 1099 worker, contractor for a company, etc.	Yes No	Unlike a W-2 employee, income from a self-employed indivual can often include cash, non taxable perks, business write-offs, and other difficult to capture sources of money.
Do you have real property? Real means real estate: land, home, timeshare. This does not include cars, retirement, bank accounts, life insurance, etc.	Yes No	Tax consequences, including capital gains, deductions, refinancing, division of net equity.
Are you or is your spouse seeking spousal support? If yes, is the higher earning spouse opposed to paying?	Yes No	Spousal support is not based on a formula, it's a balancing test that captures a picture of the maritial standard of living a persons need for support, a person's ability to pay, and a number of other factors that are not based on a formula.
Estate value greater than 1.5M? Estate value is your net worth including retirement, savings, home equity, life insurance, vehicles, and other assesable valuables.	Yes No	The greater the value of the estate, the more assets there are to divide, resulting in more complex tax and estate planning.

Fees range: $8000 - $10000

*Does not include trial

Circumstances of Your Divorce		Legal Implications Affecting Total Cost
Does the case involve contempt? Legal speak for violation of court orders.	Yes No	Contempt is a quasi-criminal action that often involves multiple court appearances.
Do you or does your ex-spouse want to modify child support? This includes changing the monthly amount or terminating child support.	Yes No	Child support modification requires court, preparation of documentss, attending hearings, etc.
Do you or does your ex-spouse want to modify your custody agreement? Includes change of time share or scheduling.	Yes No	Custody modification often requires multiple hearings, preparation for mandatory child custody counseling. Moving is a subset of custody modification.
Do you or does your ex-spouse plan to relocate with the child(ren)? Anything that would disrupt the current parenting schedule or violates previous mandates by the court	Yes No	Moving is an automatic trial issue that typically spans anywhere from 6-12 months of litigation.
Do you or does your ex-spouse want to modify spousal support? Payment schedule, amount, anything outside of the original order.	Yes No	Modifying spousal support post-judgment automatically requires trial and typically requires multiple hearings.

Fees range: $5000 - $8000

* This includes trial

Learn about the steps you'll take during separation and avoid mistakes along the way. Be better prepared to start (or finish) your divorce with tailored info from attorney, Cristin Lowe.