I offer flat rates for uncontested divorce. The legal fee is $250 if you have young children, $200 if you don?t. You?ll also have to pay a filing fee. The filing fee is $163 in Talladega County where I file all my uncontested divorces. All my flat rates assume that it takes an initial session of an hour or less to prepare the papers and that you and your spouse sign them in the form we prepared them. If it takes extra time after that, it's okay. I just ask you to pay me for the extra time.
Lawyers often quote a fee for uncontested divorce that does not include preparation of a property agreement (which is needed in virtually every divorce). All my flat rates include the cost of preparing an agreement and all other forms needed for the divorce.
I ask that you pay the legal fee for the uncontested divorce when you come for the initial meeting. I prefer that you wait and pay me the filing fee when the papers are fully signed and ready to file with the court.
I don't believe in retainers, and I never ask for one. Instead I ask you to pay me at the end of each session for the time we spend in that session.
For extra time, I charge $200 per hour, whether I'm serving as a mediator, a lawyer, or a coach. There's no additional charge for setup or opening a file.
I charge my time in tenths of an hour. So if you spend 33 minutes with me, that's 6/10 of an hour, and I'll ask you to pay me $120.00 when we finish. I take cash, checks, Visa, and MasterCard.
People sometimes ask if I will set up a payment plan, meaning can they get my services now and pay me later. The answer is no. I'm not set up to take your money now and deliver services later (retainer agreement), and neither am I set up to deliver you services now and get paid later. I need you to pay me when I provide services. If you don't want to do that, please don't use me. You'll make life uncomfortable for both of us.
From time to time, someone who doesn't understand my approach to saving money in divorce asks if I offer an introductory free consultation. The answer to this one is also no.
A lawyer who spends 20 or more hours of professional time on an average case can justify an introductory consultation, because there's an expectation of a large retainer if the lawyer "takes the case." My whole business is set up to spend as little time as possible with (and charge as little money as possible to) each client. I'm totally comfortable spending 20 minutes with a client if that's all it takes to deliver the information the client needs, and I have no interest in trying to sell the client on using me more.
This means that, among other things, I spend far less time with each individual client than the average divorce lawyer (on the order of 2.7 hours per client). If I offered a free consultation, I would be reducing my overall revenue dramatically; it wouldn't make sense.
For the arrangements and rates for coaching over the phone, click here.
