Divorce Costs - Understanding the Basics of the Costs of Divorce

The amount of your divorce lawyers fees will be based on how many of these three areas he must deal with and how much your soon to be ex spouse is going to contest them.

The areas that must be handled are the divorce itself, in particular the "decree absolute" which is the paperwork that brings your marriage to a final and complete end and allows both parties to go on with their lives and remarry under British law.

The next issue regarding the divorce costs has to do with your children if you have any. This is one of the most contested areas of a divorce and covers such issues as who gets custody, how much child support must be paid, when it is to be paid and how much the non-custodial parent will be allowed to have contact and visitation with their children after the divorce is finalized.

Finally the lawyers have to help sort out all of the matrimonial property, this means who gets what out of everything that was accrued during your marriage. This includes houses, cars, belongings and any other real property that has value. It also includes who will be responsible for paying any maintenance of any of the property. All of this must be figured into the cost of divorce lawyers as they charge by the hour and the more they have to do the longer it is going to take.

Since not every divorce is heavily disputed or involves all of these issues, quite often the divorce costs are much lower. Especially in divorces where there are no children involved or if there are children but both parties have already agreed on terms before asking the court to make the decision for them. However when the court must get involved in deciding what is to happen to the children and who is going to pay support, the costs can become quite high.

Unless your divorce is likely to be contested, most are not, the average divorce lawyer has a fixed rate for divorce. Although the price of your lawyer will vary from lawyer to lawyer the current (as of 2010) court divorce costs are approximately £350 which breaks down as follows, £300 court fees for the divorce decree, £40 for the decree absolute plus another £7.50 for a sworn affidavit that must be sworn during your court proceedings. Remember however these figures are subject to change at any time so you should check with your solicitor to determine actual costs.

For the most part it does not matter who pays the divorce costs, although each party generally pays for their own lawyer. Unless the divorce is particularly bitter or contested most parties share the actual court costs as long as they agree to do so. In some cases the respondent may be forced to pay the full costs of the divorce, especially in the case of unreasonable behavior however because such a claim can quickly cause the lawyer's fees to add up most parties agree to an amicable divorce which keeps the costs at a minimum.