I hear this question on a daily basis. The answer is the same. "It depends." You have to ask yourself, "What kind of divorce do I want?" Most people don't know that there are as many types of divorce that are available. For example, if the parties have nothing that is in dispute, they can file their own divorce and agree to how any property is split up, or how the debt is going to be shared. On the other end of the spectrum, there is the type of divorce that is toxic and the parties are constantly at each other over each and every detail.

So, let's get back to the original question...How much? Well, I will use Cook County as the example. The filing fee for a divorce is $337.00. It is another $60.00 for the sheriff to serve the lawsuit on the other spouse. The fee to file the answer to the divorce petition is $206.00. Those are the "costs" (and may not be the last of them; ie court reporters, subpoena fees, copy fees, etc. ) So what are the attorneys' fees? They vary.  

To start a divorce, our office requires a retainer usually between $2,000 and $3,000 and the hourly rate is $250-$350 per hour depending on which attorney works on your case. This is where, with our guidance, you decide what type of divorce you want. As you can see, it is not cheap to get a divorce. If there is not much to fight about, the cost is much less than if the parties have to fight about things like real estate, retirement accounts, child support, parental allocation and so on. Will our help, we can get you the best result for whatever direction you decide is best.

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