For more information and tips about divorce or other family law matters in Colorado, contact Lewis & Matthews P.C. today, [ Ссылка ]

How much will my divorce or child custody case cost me? The easy answer to that is that is depends. Family law attorneys typically charge by the hour so the more contested your case is the more it is going to cost you, uh. We typically require a retainer to be paid up front, so this is how I handle the attorney’s fees and retainers on my end. I ask that he client pay a retainer fee up front. My minimum retainer fee is 3,000 dollars. It can go up from there depending on the complexity and anticipated conflict in your case. I bill against that retainer fee at my hourly rate of 285 dollars an hour, my paralegal, Jodi Cochran, 155 dollars an hour, and support staff is 50 dollars an hour. We take your retainer fee and we put it in our trust account so that stays your money until we have worked on your case and we have issued a bill and we have earned that money. Sometimes people will come in, they will see me, hire me to start a divorce case and then they will reconcile with their spouse. That’s great, we encourage people to try and work out their differences. If you are able to reconcile with your spouse and you still have money on account with us, you will get a refund. We will refund your money less any amounts that we have earned through work we have done on your case. Other factors that play into how much this is going to cost me include whether or not you need expert witnesses for your case. Do you need to have a house appraised? That can run anywhere between 500 and 1,000 dollars. Uh, do you need a vocational evaluation done of the other party because maintenance or child support is an issue, perhaps that party has not worked outside of the home for a long period of time. A vocational evaluation typically is in the 1,000 to 2,000-dollar range. What if you are having disputes about parenting time and can’t agree on what is in the best interest of the child. There is an option for an expert called a child and family investigator the statutory cap is 2,750 dollars and is typically divided equally between the parties subject to reallocation at the time of permanent orders. If there are really serious concerns about parenting time, concerns about the mental health of the other parent, maybe you have concerns about drug and alcohol issues. There is a provision for a parental responsibilities evaluation. Those are done by a mental health professional and those can be quite costly. The last parental responsibilities’ evaluation that I had done cost 20,000 dollars so you need to think long and hard about whether your dispute with the other parent about parenting time is worth that added cost. So again, if you have to have a temporary orders hearing because you can’t agree how we are going to pay the bills and maintain the status quo moving forward that is going to drive the cost of your case up and if you are unable to reach a resolution and have to go before the judge for your permanent orders hearing that is going to drive your cost up as well. So, the short answer is that it depends, but come in see me, we can talk about a strategy moving forward and see what we can do to minimize the cost of your case.


Lewis & Matthews, P.C. | Denver Family Law Firm | (303) – 329-3802 | [ Ссылка ] | 1890 Gaylord St. Denver, CO 80206

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