Divorce Costs - Typical Costs and Benefits of Assisted Arizona Divorce

You've heard the old joke...

Why is divorce so expensive?

Because it's worth it!

Well, as funny as that may be for those who need to release some tension, it's only half right. Divorce is normally a costly, complex and time-consuming venture, but it doesn't have to be.

Other options such as mediation have opened up the divorce industry and made it possible to get a divorce for far less, while reducing the conflict in the typically adversarial nature of divorce proceedings.

Most divorces are processed by an attorney, and you want the best attorney, right?

A good attorney charges $300-$400 per hour (and you may feel like paying more). Of course, when going to court, both parties need to pay for an attorney to represent them in court.

If your attorney is a great guy or gal, they'll give you a "free" consultation of 1-2 hours, for which they'll more than make up for it later.

After your initial consultations, your attorney's client meetings, conversations with opposing counsel, review of "discovery" and other documents can take about 12 hours.

Plus 20 or so hours for their preparation of trial, motions and more.

Plus the trial itself at 6 hours on average, but add more if you have very complex holdings and conditions.

Plus follow-up conversation, motions, filing, etc. - another 6 hours.

A typical divorce preparation, trial and aftermath runs about 44 hours.

Of course, that's times two since both parties need representation.

Nearly 4 days worth of billing comes out to about $26,000-$35,000.

The time cost is also significant, as this process takes as much as 5-12 months to perfect the particulars of the case, and all the minutiae of preparing, going to court and filing.

Agreement House offers a different, and we think better, option, where both parties can work together to minimize conflict, focus on what both husband and wife consider important, and work for an agreement which gives both parties what they want.

As issues get more complex, we have attorneys and mediators available to assist, working through difficult details like finances, child custody, property and more.

We start with DORA our Divorce Options Review & Assessment which provides you with a preliminary meeting with an attorney and non-attorney mediator to discuss options and receive our comprehensive notebook of information which will be invaluable for the first few critical steps - This process takes a brief 60-90 minutes and costs $495.

Standard mediation lasting 4 hours costs $1495 and goes a long way to solidifying the terms of your divorce in terms both parties can understand and agree with.

Standard Document Preparation costs $825-925 dollars, based on the presence of children or not.

Filing fees (in Arizona) are $577.

Additional fees could be incurred for special paperwork/filings
required for some retirement funds, for additional mediation beyond
the half-day and/or for arbitration.

Generally, however, most divorces can be processed for the above fees when couples are willing to negotiate and work out terms that are advantageous yet fair to both parties.

The Agreement House Assisted Divorce Solution Costs - $2815-2915 Plus filing fees.

Filing fees in Arizona are $577 ($321 for the petition, $256 for the response/acceptance of service - as of March 2011).

Although the cooling off period (Arizona) is 60 days, the mediated solution can be arrived at in as little as 1-2 weeks, and the rest of the process is performed by our document preparers and attorneys so that both parties are free to focus on other issues. After the cooling off period is over, your completed divorce papers are processed and you're done, just like that.

Know someone who needs an efficient and less costly divorce in Arizona?

Looking for the right divorce option for your own situation?

Contact us at 480-496-2201 for more information about our Assisted Divorce option and to set up an appointment.

You can learn more about our program, methods and divorce costs at AgreementHouse.com.