Is a Collaborative Divorce Expensive Compared to a Litigated Divorce?
Collaborative lawyers generally charge by the hour, as do lawyers in other areas of family law, and rates vary according to experience. Since every case is different, there is no way to accurately predict cost.
The cost of your collaborative divorce will depend on the following factors:
- how simple or complex your issues are,
- how much time is spent in reaching agreement on each issue,
- whether you and your spouse have already reached many of the agreements, and
- the emotional stages of each of the parties, etc.
A rule of thumb is that a collaborative case will cost you 50 % to 60% of a fully litigated case. It’s fair to say that collaboration is the most efficient and economical conflict resolution process for a broad range of clients, and that litigation is, quite simply, the most expensive way of resolving a dispute.
How can you find the best collaborative divorce attorney for your situation? Ask them how many collaborative cases they have handled and how many terminated without collaborative divorce agreements. Ask what training they have had in the collaborative process, alternate dispute resolution, and conflict management.
Marcy Jones was one of the first Lynchburg and Virginia lawyers to be trained in collaborative divorce law. She’s a member of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals, the Virginia Association of Collaborative Professionals, and Collaborative Professionals of Central Virginia.
Marcy has litigated many family law cases and she’s an experienced trial lawyer, and that experience causes her to recommend other types of divorce to many of her clients.
Want more information about collaborative divorce, uncontested divorce and litigated divorce? Call Marcy Jones at 434-845-2463.
