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What is a Fair Price for a Divorce?
Why should a divorce in Bucks county, Pennsylvania cost more than a divorce in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania?
Why should a divorce in Langhorne, PA cost more than a divorce in Abington, PA?
Why should a divorce in Huntingdon Valley, PA cost more than a divorce in Newtown, PA?
Why should a divorce in Bristol, PA cost more than a divorce in Philadelphia, PA?
The answer is, a divorce should not cost more from one town to the next. Lawyers in one town should not charge more than lawyers in the next town over for the paperwork or per hour.
A divorce without child custody or support issues comes down to two things: a lot of paperwork that requires some thought but not too much time and negotiations over the marital property, a process that is known as equitable distribution.
If the couple that is divorcing has a lot of assets acquired over a long period of time, the negotiations are going to be more detailed and difficult. Each asset must be valued and the "equities" of the divorce have to be evaluated, i.e., the lawyers have to determine what the fair shares are.
The cost of such negotiations goes up with the number of assets because more time is needed to evaluate the assets themselves and then to discuss what the fair share of each party is. Time is money.
Even more time is required if one of the parties tries to hide assets through a small business or other family members or if either party is angry and refuses to work toward a resolution of the issues.
But for a small amount of assets that are less complex, a divorce in Pennsylvania should be a flat fee for the paperwork plus a flat fee for the estimated number of negotiations. A per hour rate for a long negotiation process is proper but the lawyer should give the client a regular update as to time and cost from the start to the finish.
I always try to do this and I know that other lawyers in Bucks County and Philadelphia do as well. Anyone considering a divorce should discuss the costs and how those costs are determined at the outset.
