Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “How much does it cost to get divorced, and how does the billing process work?”
Most people believe that getting divorced is a costly endeavor in North Carolina. In fact, some couples choose to stay married for this reason alone. While divorces can be costly, it does not necessarily mean that your divorce will be expensive.
Luckily, there are ways to reduce the cost of your divorce in North Carolina.
How to Minimize the Cost of Your Divorce
There are five simple techniques to lower the cost of your divorce in Charlotte, Lake Norman, and Monroe, or other parts of North Carolina.
Honesty is Key
You can easily reduce the cost of your divorce by simply being honest with your divorce attorney. Many clients choose to hide certain details from their lawyers, which makes resolving a divorce case more complicated than it should be.
If there is something relevant to your divorce, child custody, property distribution, or other issues that your attorney needs to know about, do not be afraid to share that information. Your lawyer is not your enemy and is certainly not there to judge you for your actions.
Hiding relevant details from your lawyer will require your attorney to spend additional time dealing with the disputes when those details are uncovered during the divorce proceedings. As a result, the attorney’s fees will go up.
Negotiation Over Litigation
Taking your case to trial can significantly increase the cost of your divorce in North Carolina. Litigating a divorce should be a last resort, to be used when all other attempts to reach an agreement fail. Your lawyer will facilitate negotiation between you and your soon-to-be-former-spouse to help you find the middle ground.
In most cases, litigation is not necessary because a divorce can be resolved through negotiation, mediation, or collaborative divorce.
Getting Collaborative
If there are only a few disputed issues in your case, you may want to try a collaborative divorce. The collaborative approach only works when spouses agree on most issues in their divorce. A collaborative divorce can significantly lower legal fees because you will not have to go to court.
Effective Communication
Being honest with your attorney is not enough to reduce the cost of your divorce if you are not an effective communicator. It is critical to respond to your divorce lawyer promptly. Failure to respond to your attorney right away means that your lawyer will have to follow up with you repeatedly, which can increase legal fees and slow down your divorce.
Staying Organized
If you are getting a divorce in North Carolina, you will have to collect all kinds of documents and information about your marriage. Thus, you need to stay organized in order to cut down the time your attorney will have to spend gathering and arranging the documentation.
Also, it would be helpful to write down any questions you intend to ask your attorney and any information you want to share before the meeting. This will prevent you from having to schedule additional meetings and will help you use your time with the lawyer more effectively, which, in turn, can lower attorney’s fees.
Speak with a knowledgeable family law attorney to find out about other ways to reduce the cost of your divorce in North Carolina. Contact our lawyers at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, if you are looking for efficient divorce representation. Get a phone or video consultation by calling at (704) 370-2828 to speak with our detail-oriented and well-versed lawyers with offices in Charlotte, Lake Norman, and Monroe, please contact Arnold & Smith, PLLC today or find additional resources here.
The family law practice group at Arnold & Smith, PLLC includes two Board-Certified Family Law specialists and one Child Welfare Law specialist, as well as several attorneys with many years of family law experience that are committed to providing a powerful voice to individuals facing the often-tumultuous issues in this area of law. The range of issues our family law clients may be facing include pre- and post-nuptial agreements; separation agreements; post-separation support; child support (both temporary and permanent); absolute divorce; divorce from bed and board; military divorce; equitable distribution of assets; child custody (both temporary and permanent); retirement benefits and divorce; alimony and spousal support; adoption; and emancipation. Because this area of the law is usually emotionally charged and complicated, the family law attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC act with the utmost dedication to ensure that each client understands his or her options, and then act to achieve the best result possible for that client’s particular situation.
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