COMPARISON OF THE AVERAGE COST OF DIVORCE FEES
Divorce Mediation vs. Divorce Litigation
Custody Mediation vs. Custody Litigation
Think: do you really want to spend your children's college education account, your vacation money, and the full value of your home on your divorce? Consider divorce mediation or custody mediation as a lower-cost, lower-stress alternative:
Mediation |
Litigation* |
Life Beyond Divorce |
Savings by Using Mediation Instead of Litigation |
Time Value of Money (Savings) Over 20 Years** |
Total Savings By Using Mediation |
| 3 sessions at 3 hours each, $625 per hour *** plus preparation of paperwork and consultation with independent attorneys to review settlement options: $8500 |
Low conflict divorce, with some negotiation but uncontested final judgment. Both spouses have attorneys who charge $375 per hour: $40,000 |
Trip to Hawaii for two, two weeks, all-inclusive package including room with a view: $10,000 |
$31,500 | $71,811 | $71,811 Enough for over 7 trips to Hawaii |
| 3 sessions, paperwork, consultation attorneys to options: $12,500 |
Limited contested divorce case, no children, trial on common financial issues $70,000 | 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow classic automobile, fully refurbished: $15,000 |
$58,000 | $91,682 | $91,682 enough for 6 classic Rolls Royce cars |
| 5 sessions, preparation
of paperwork and consultation with attorneys to review
settlement options: $18,000 |
Contested divorce case with custody issues which settles right
before trial date: $125,000 |
Undergraduate education, 4 years in-state tuition, Indiana
University (Bloomington): $29,000 |
$107,000 | $234,450 | $234,450: enough to send 8 children to CSU for an undergrad college education |
| 6 sessions, paperwork, consultation with attorneys to review options: $21,000 |
Fully contested custody case which proceeds to trial $275,000 |
Law School education, 3 years' tuition, Southwestern Law School , Los Angeles , California : $105,000 |
$254,000 | $556,545 | $556,545 enough to send 5 people to law school and buy a classic Rolls Royce |
| 8 sessions, paperwork, consultation with attorneys to review options: $25,000 |
Fully contested custody and financial issues case involving child custody evaluators and forensic valuation experts for business, pensions, etc.: $350,000 |
4 bedroom, 2 bath home with water view, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida , $425,000 |
$325,000 | $712,115 | $712,115 Enough for a house in Ft. Lauderdale with enough left over to send a child to college and law school, and 75,000 to spare. |
* Think we've exaggerated the costs of litigation? Consider this quote from one of Los Angeles' top family law judges made at the Beverly Hills Bar Association meeting in September 2002: “By the time we see [divorce] cases in court, most people have spent all of their community assets on the divorce itself. By that time, we're just dividing debts and allocating attorney's fees.” Or as Judge Marjorie Steinberg, the presiding Family Law judge, stated in her May 4th, 2008 interview with the Los Angeles Times Magazine article, a divorve completed for less than $100,00 is "pretty cheap." While Collaborative Divorce is less expensive than litigation, it’s still significantly more expensive than mediation according to the American Bar Association Journal’s December 20, 2007 edition
** For this calculation, we've used a 4% simple interest rate and subtracted the cost of mediation from the cost of litigation. This figure represents the amount of money you'd save by mediating your divorce instead of litigating, and how much that savings would be worth if you invested it at 4% interest for 20 years.
***Our fees change from time to time, so please call us for current rates. Keep in mind that even with an increase in our fees, the cost of mediation is still a fraction of the cost of litigation.
Copyright 2006 Diana Mercer, Peace Talks Mediation Services
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