The gap between the cheapest and most expensive route to the same legal outcome is roughly a factor of fifty. Here is where the money goes.
Court filing fees
Unavoidable and set by the court, typically a few hundred dollars depending on jurisdiction. Fee waivers exist for low incomes and are underused, ask.
Route 1: Pure DIY
Roughly $300-600 all in. You buy a document package or use the court's own forms, complete them, and file yourself.
Works when: the split is uncontested, there is little property, and you agree about the children. Fails when: you get one form wrong and lose three months to a rejection, or you agree to something in a settlement you did not understand.
Route 2: Online divorce service
Roughly $500-1,500 plus filing fees. A guided questionnaire produces state-specific forms, sometimes with filing support and optional professional time.
The pricing is honest as long as your case stays uncontested. The moment it does not, you have paid for something you cannot use.
Route 3: Mediation
Roughly $3,000-8,000 total, usually shared. A neutral mediator runs several sessions and produces a memorandum of understanding, which a lawyer then converts into a filing.
Usually the best value for couples with children and shared assets who can still be in a room together. Cheaper than litigation by an order of magnitude and considerably better for the co-parenting relationship.
Route 4: Unbundled legal help
Roughly $500-3,000. You run the case; a lawyer reviews documents or coaches you for specific hearings.
The best-kept secret in family law. Most of the value of a lawyer is concentrated in a few hours of judgement, not the hundred hours of process.
Route 5: Full representation
$15,000 to $50,000+ per party. Hourly billing, typically $250-500 an hour, against a retainer that gets topped up.
Necessary when there is genuine conflict, complex assets, or any safety concern. Necessary is not the same as regrettable, but go in knowing the meter is running on every email.
The costs people forget
- Setting up a second household. Deposit, furniture, kitchen basics. Frequently larger than the legal bill.
- Refinancing or buying out a mortgage, including valuation and legal fees.
- Pension or retirement account division, which often needs a separate specialist order.
- Time off work for hearings, mediation and appointments.
- Therapy, for you and often for the children.
- Tax changes: filing status, dependants, and the treatment of transfers.
How to spend less without cutting corners
- Do the document assembly yourself; buy judgement, not admin.
- Mediate before anyone files anything.
- Never use your lawyer as a counsellor at $400 an hour.
- Send one consolidated email a week instead of six.
- Settle the small things. Fighting over the sofa costs more than the sofa.