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EspañolHow much does a divorce cost?
The NY Courts website lists a schedule of fees for initial divorce filings in on page 5 of their divorce packet. For an uncontested divorce, the inital court filings may represent the majority of the cost. However, for contested divorces, where motions are commonly filed, experts may be ordered to do evaluations, and a lawyer is usually required, the costs can increase greatly.
If you cannot afford the filing fees, you may file an application to proceed as a poor person. Here, for example, is an affidavit that would be filed when asking to have the fees waived (in other words, to “proceed as a poor person.”) The clerk’s office can tell you exactly what forms to file. If you qualify, you will not have to pay the fees.
Attorneys usually charge an hourly rate, ranging from $175 to $450 or possibly even more, depending on experience. They usually require an advance retainer, which is an initial deposit against which you are billed. You might be able to get an attorney for no cost through our NY Finding a Lawyer page or, if you are low-income, you may be able to get an attorney appointed for you by the court to handle custody and visitation matters.1
However, if you cannot afford to pay for an attorney, there is a law that may help if your spouse earns/has more money than you do. The law says that the judge can order the spouse who has more money to pay the lower-income spouse’s attorney’s fees and the fees and expenses of experts (such as a forensic psychologist) if this is necessary for you to be adequately represented in the divorce. The judge will assume that the richer spouse should pay the poorer spouse’s attorney fees although the richer spouse can try to change the judge’s mind and offer evidence to show why this should not be done. The money would be paid during the divorce (not at the end) to your attorney directly.2 This law also applies to a court case you may have to later bring to enforce any part of the divorce or custody order that the other spouse is violating.3
1 NY Judiciary Law § 35(8)
2 NY Dom. Rel. Law § 237(a)
3 NY Dom. Rel. Law § 237(b)
