It is well-established that more than 90% of all divorces end with an agreement between the parties. Shouldn’t you explore that first if you can, instead of starting a long, expensive, and probably unnecessary legal battle?
We believe the answer is yes. Regrettably, most family law attorneys don’t even ask this question.
There are only two ways to get through a divorce: 1) work it out with your spouse for something you both can live with, or 2) pay a trial attorney $250-$450+ per hour to go to court to ask a judge or other strangers to make these life decisions for you.
With our extensive background and experience, we can help you negotiate these life decisions with your spouse. That’s what we offer through a cooperative divorce. And that’s all we do. We do not accept contested cases.
Absent any instructions to the contrary, most divorce attorneys start a legal battle instead of exploring an early agreement. The trial of a divorce takes much longer and costs much more in fees than the negotiation of an agreement. Make sure a fight is your best option before starting one.
The typical default strategy for divorce attorneys is to file the case with the court, serve the spouse with the papers, and charge by the hour to do all that is necessary to take the case to court. The spouse hires their own attorney by the hour to fight back and so goes one storm after another.
Most clients don’t know there are alternative strategies, and assume their attorney is taking the best course of action for their case.
Often, an agreement is not even discussed until after the attorneys have spent months filing motions and discovery documents, or the judge has ordered a mediation. And all the while the meter is running.
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Your fee structure should work for you, not against you. Don’t pay your attorney by the hour to keep fighting if you are interested in an early agreement. If you can pay one flat fee, then both of you will better off the sooner the agreement is reached.
Most divorce attorneys charge by the hour because no one can predict how long a divorce fight might last. Hourly fees will pay your attorney to continue to fight for you as long as necessary, and if you must fight, that’s what you want.
However, an attorney billing by the hour has no financial incentive to work out an agreement, because that will necessarily end their stream of fees. While some of the finest people we know are attorneys, if you think that no attorney has ever stretched out a divorce case just to keep the hourly fees rolling in, then your view of human nature is more optimistic than ours.
By contrast, most cooperative divorces either reach an agreement within a couple of months, or they become contested. Because of that, one appropriate set fee can be calculated based on the issues in the case and the time expected to work out an agreement.
If your attorney is willing to accept one fixed fee to help you negotiate an agreement, then both of you will be better off the sooner that happens. You will also be protected from extra fees if it takes longer than expected, and you won’t be rewarding your attorney with more fees the longer they fail to get you what you want.
Your fee structure can work for you, instead of against you.
Our experience has been that if an agreement can be explored BEFORE any case is filed in court, then most of our clients can reach an early agreement and save themselves from thousands in hourly fees and months of stress.
Schedule a free consultation with our attorney. Let’s see if we can help you with a cooperative divorce instead of a fight. If we can, then we can guide you through each step of the process and prepare all of the paperwork for your divorce.
Our fee structure explained:
We charge one set fee, sometimes called a flat fee, to help you negotiate an early agreement and prepare all the paperwork necessary for your Final Decree of Divorce. It is usually between $2500-$5000, depending on the issues in the case.
Some of our clients already have a tentative agreement with their spouse when they come to us. If you do and just want us to review the proposed agreement for potential issues, prepare the paperwork, get everything signed and notarized, file everything, and submit the case to the judge for the Final Decree, the fee is usually $1000-$1500, depending on the issues. The parties often sign the agreement in less than a month.
If you don't have an agreement yet, and you need our counsel as you negotiate each issue with your spouse, then our fee is usually $2500-$4000 if your spouse does not have an attorney, and most parties can usually sign an agreement within a couple of months. About half of our cases fall into this category. Our attorney will not communicate directly with your spouse during negotiations unless there are unusual circumstances and your spouse requests to communicate with us. Also, we always recommend that your spouse at least consult with an attorney to review any proposed agreement before they sign anything.
If they do have an attorney for the negotiations, the process will almost certainly be more formal and will take much longer, and as a result our total fee is usually $4000-$5000, depending on the issues.
It's one flat fee. If the case becomes contested or you wish to take a different direction at any time for any reason, we will refund any of your fee that has not yet been earned at the firm's hourly rate. If the total fee has been earned at the hourly rate but the case takes longer to resolve, you will not be billed for any extra time.
Compare all that to the average total fees of $10,500-$12,700 for one lawyer billing by the hour in the typical year-long divorce case in Georgia. And those are just averages. Half of Georgia divorces are more expensive. Some are much, much worse. Our attorney has this one friend, another attorney, whose divorce took three years to resolve by agreement and cost him $500k+ in fees using a downtown Atlanta law firm.
We are not a budget law firm. It’s our innovative strategy and flat fee which can keep you out of the storm.
We offer a free consultation.
Find out if your situation might foster an early agreement. Not every case will. We can set up a Zoom meeting with our attorney so you can discuss your case from a comfortable and private location. You have nothing to lose, and you could save yourself significant stress, time and money.
