One of the biggest concerns couples have heading into a divorce in Texas is the cost. While divorce marks the end of a marriage, it’s not just simply just ending a marriage. What happens in a divorce affects a couple, their children, and their money for the foreseeable future. It can be a complicated process, and it’s best handled by an experienced lawyer who knows the Texas Family Code, the court system, and the judges who will determine what the final decree looks like should the case go to litigation.
There’s a new USA Today article that confirms the high cost of divorce in Texas, comparing costs in all 50 states. It shows that Texas has the fifth-highest cost in the nation for both cases that do and don’t involve children.
That might seem intimidating, and might give some couples in Texas pause before they do decide to divorce. One thing to keep in mind is that litigation can significantly increase the price tag on a divorce. If your lawyer has to go to court on your behalf, there’s an hourly charge for each hour that a lawyer is in the courtroom, whether it’s advocating for you or waiting to advocate for you. When a lawyer goes to court for you, the judge is a giant X-factor.
It’s also important to remember that the cost of a divorce depends largely on the client. Law offices bill for their time, and bill differently for lawyers and paralegals. The team around a lawyer is well-equipped to answer questions and achieve many of the steps that need to be taken during a divorce. It’s advantageous to you, if you’re divorcing, to understand who can do what and to make sure you’re not insisting on having a lawyer do what another member of the team can do.
Also remember that while you’ll have a lot of questions during the course of a divorce, you don’t have to have them all answered as soon as they occur to you. At the Law Office of Lisa A. Vance, we advise our clients to compile their questions into a weekly email that we can then efficiently answer in a direct, focused way — and, crucially, in a format where you can go back and read it when you need to.
Sometimes, in divorce, you’re overwhelmed, and if you get an answer over the phone, you may not hear it the first time, or you may not remember it exactly after hearing it. When it’s in email, you can read it when your head’s clear and you’re in the right place to understand it.
While divorce can be expensive, and while it’s unpredictable to know what the final price tag of a divorce will be, we’re a law firm that believes in being efficient and helping clients know how they can best participate in the process. That keeps their costs down and helps keep the focus on getting them the best divorce decrees possible.