Psychopath and Narcissist Survivors Support Group

Trishia77 · Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 1

My husband and I finally decided on getting a divorce. We've been married for seven and a half years. We have 2 kids. I've done a research on how much does a divorce cost and i was surprised by the possible cost mentioned by divorceguide.com. Is this true for those who have tried? Or is there any cheaper way in getting a divorce. Suggestions are very much appreciated.

lemondroppr · Joined: 10 Feb 2007 Posts: 1416

You don't say whether you expect the divorce to be amicable Trishia. If it can be, you might be able to do a dissolution for somewhere around $100 - $200 (in my state). But it can not be contested by either party. You sit down and agree to everything. You fill out a form. You file it with the court system. You have a brief hearing and then your divorced.

If you expect disagreements in child custody, property division, child support, etc. then no, I don't believe a divorce is possible for $1,000 or less if you want legal council. It MAY be possible if you qualify for legal aide. But when I checked into it, my local legal aid office was only assisting people with a history of DV and children were involved. And depending on circumstances, you might be able to find a lawyer who would do it pro bono, but good luck! I was extremely limited by the amount of money I had to go through my divorce, but I could not find an attorney who would do it pro bono.

Finally, you can do the entire divorce yourself (or you can in my state). In my state, they even have classes on how to do it and a person can get access to the law library. Because of my circumstances, that was not an option for me.

It might be helpful to all of us if you could describe what you are expecting to happen in your divorce.

Lemon

dagna · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Posts: 493

I don't think there is any way that mine (uncontested) could have cost less than a couple thousand. But in my state you pretty much have to have at least one laywer. I think the actual court costs were a couple hundred.

Kitcat0341 · Joined: 04 Mar 2007 Posts: 15

My divorce cost $2000 in CA. $200 for the court fee, and $1800 for the lawyer after he contested.

Previously, I had done custody and child support by myself w/o a lawyer.

My lawyer "advised" me to drop child support, past and present, so I could get divorced more easily. I did.

Basically, I stopped fighting because I wanted the man out of my life. He's out, but he has my son, now almost 18. I won and I lost.

Oh, yeah, my "lawyer" couldn't seem to file the right papers, and tried to charge me another $900. I just refused to pay it, and my ex sent me a copy of the disolution of marriage.

I think most lawyers find ways of dragging all this out. I think they want us to wage a battle so they get paid more. In my case, she couldn't seem to file all the necassary papers. That's WHY I hird her, because I was at a loss as to what to do next. So I paid her to bumble her way thru it. I filed for divorce in Nov 2001. It was finally final in June 2004. Why did it take soooooo long when I gave up everything except custody of my son? Because of the lawyer. She wanted another $900, and my freedom meant nothing to her.

My daughter with my second husband was 8 months old when the dovorce was final. sheesh....

If you can stay away from a lawyer, I'd say you are better off. But if he (ex)is harrassing you, threatening custody...etc....you have no choice.
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Change never comes from fighting what is wrong, it comes from loving what is right.