“How much does a Texas divorce cost?” is a question we answer most every day. Not surprisingly, the answer depends on a number of factors.
“Contested” vs. “Uncontested” are misnomers and misleading and are really a product of lawyer advertising used to shortcut around the real answer.
In a divorce lawsuit all your community property must be divided between the spouses and if you have children, provision must be made for their support, conservatorship, and possession. These are not simple issues and all have enormous consequences.
The vast majority of cases/lawsuits/divorces all end with an agreement of one sort or another. When and how complete such an agreement is can streamline the litigation into more of a transaction but the work remains to allocate those rights regarding children and property.
Everyone should have an attorney except in the very specific cases in which the spouses are living in a rented residence, employed, with a short-term marriage, and limited property. Unless all of the preceding matches your situation, you need an attorney.
You can assume that a straightforward divorce will cost $5,000–$10,000 per party. For a “normal couple” with a house, retirement, children — who cannot agree without court intervention — you can expect legal fees of $20,000 plus per party.
The old joke remains true:
Why are divorces so expensive? Because they are worth it!
For comparison, Realtors are routinely paid a 3% per party commission to buy or sell a house — $10,500 commission on a $350,000 house. A divorce lawyer is transferring ownership not of just your house but every asset you and your spouse own as well as navigating the emotional issues as well as everything relating to the care of your children. Compared to Realtors you can see that lawyer’s fees are quite reasonable.
