Is a $1,500 Divorce Possible?

I recently came across an interesting opinion piece in Reuters News this week: "How I got divorced for less than $1,500 in legal fees".  The author recounts his experience obtaining a divorce from his wife in Massachusetts for about $1,500 in legal fees.  But is this a realistic expectation for couples contemplating divorce in New York?   In my experience, I would offer a cautious maybe. 

The feasibility of an “inexpensive” divorce lies almost entirely within the control of the spouses getting divorced.  That is, if the spouses are generally amicable, and go first to a skilled mediator to negotiate and finalize a Separation / Settlement Agreement, the ensuing divorce process is normally very simple and routine.  There are several documents that your attorney will have to draw up – and minimum court filing fees of at least $335 -- but as long as there is no opposition from the other spouse/spouse’s attorney, the attorney fees for processing a “no fault” divorce case should be relatively low.  Similarly, if you and your spouse did not first go to a mediator, but did come to a general agreement on the main principles of a divorce settlement before you each obtained attorneys, the legal fees involved in putting that settlement in writing, reviewing what is proposed by the other spouse’s attorney, finalizing a settlement and processing a subsequent divorce, should be in the low 4-figures.

Then what makes contested divorce proceedings so expensive (generally $5,000 and up)?  The following list are my observations of just some of the things that add to a divorce’s legal (attorney) costs:

• Spouses disagreeing vehemently on the value and/or ownership of certain property (often requiring appraisers or other financial experts to be hired).
• Spouses disagreeing vehemently on the custody and/or visitation schedule for a child (this can arise once the non-custodial spouse sees the level of his or her child support burden).
• Shared ownership of a white elephant (an unsellable house; a rare and expensive heirloom neither wishes to part with; a family business).
• Spouses letting their (understandably) hurt feelings get in the way of rational negotiation (i.e. demanding possession of some minuscule piece of property merely out of spite). 

Of course, nobody gets divorced because they agree about everything and are best of friends with their spouse; but mutual respect, reciprocal empathy, and shared purpose in expeditiously dissolving the marriage will go a long way toward keeping your legal costs down.