February 13, 2024 by Stephen Vincent

Top 5 Ways to Save Money During Your Divorce When You Have an Attorney

For many people going through a divorce, it is the first time they have needed to hire an attorney. How courts and lawyers operate and what they charge is unfamiliar to them; because of that lack of familiarity, they may make choices that run counter to their interests and may increase the cost of their divorce.

1. Settle What You Can.

The two of you should decide what you can between yourselves. Save the lawyers for the items you can’t come to an agreement on. The most expensive divorces are the ones where the parties can’t settle anything, and they pay for their attorneys to fight, and go to Court where their attorneys must prepare Pretrial Statements, tables, valuations, and exhibits that list out what the parties own, prove how much each item is worth, and discuss who gets it. This is time-consuming and very expensive. It’s almost always unnecessary to have attorneys negotiate these things (although an attorney can certainly advise you on what a fair of these items might look like).

You shouldn’t need an attorney to help you decide who gets what blender, sofa, or even vehicle. You know bank accounts will be divided in half, so each spouse should take their half, and they should close the account. Simple agreements like that can save the parties thousands in fees and months in litigation.

Similarly, work with each other to take care of routine things. For example, way too many people require their attorneys to get involved for something as simple as getting their clothes out of the house. It does not require attorneys for one spouse to come by and clear out their belongings.

2. Manage Your Emotions.

Nothing escalates the cost of a divorce like one spouse losing control of their emotions. That drunken late night text diatribe, screaming at their spouse during an exchange, destroying the other spouse’s property. These are not benign incidents—they can serve as the for protective orders or emergency custody requests, and reasons for cutting off settlement talks. Emotional outbursts almost always ensure a divorce will be prolonged, messy, and expensive.

This is why managing your emotions is so critical. A divorce is one of the most emotionally wrought times of your life. Everyone going through a divorce should be speaking with a counselor for that reason alone. You should be an emotional support team around you if you can that can include people such as friends, parents, a priest, etc. People who listen, understand, empathize, and help you process.

Having an outlet, such as a hobby, is also important. It’s also why keeping interactions with your spouse and courteous is important because the more you see them or interact with them right now, the more your feelings are going to stir.

3. Schedule a Phone Call with Your Attorney When You Have Questions.

When you hire an attorney, you are hiring them by the hour. That includes the time it takes to your questions. The amount of questions an attorney can answer in a phone call is substantially more than the amount of question an attorney can in an email. Unless your questions are pressing, you can save a lot of money by writing them down and scheduling a phone call with your attorney.

4. Respond Promptly to Your Attorney’s Requests for Approval.

Good attorneys won’t file any substantive or send out any without first having their client review and approve it. This ensures that the client remains in control of their case. After all, an attorney’s worst nightmare would be to find out they settled for something that their client did not want.

But attorneys can often find themselves chasing clients around, trying to get a hold of them to speak with or to get their approval on something. When clients don’t respond to attorney’s emails or phone calls, they are forcing their attorney to do more work. This adds more costs without adding more value. Clients are best served by responding promptly to all requests made by their attorney.

5. Gather and Disclose Your Financial Documents Promptly.

How long a family law case takes to settle often depends on how quickly a client gets documents to their attorney. Most attorneys won’t discuss without seeing what assets are out there, as they don’t want to leave something on the table or broker a bad deal for the client because they were working with the wrong value for an asset or debt.

An attorney should notify the client of what documents they need to disclose to the other side, and the client should get to work on providing those documents. This can help speed along the negotiation process. The quicker a resolution is reached, the less time you have an attorney on retainer.