Divorce & Family Law Pricing Generally

We all want great service at a fair price. That’s a reasonable expectation but estimating the cost of a divorce or other family law matter accurately is challenging, and sometimes impossible. Like most all family law attorneys, we charge for divorce and family law matters by the hour, with each member of our team billing at a rate based on experience and position at the firm. Hourly rates are typically in the hundreds of dollars per hour range. Cases may last from two months to over two years. As a result, the overall cost varies significantly. The more we know when we first assess your case, the better we can set your expectations. An initial attorney consultation is a great first step in estimating the investment.

Your case ends only when both parties settle all issues or when the judge rules after trial. This is true whether your case is a divorce, custody, modification, mediation, or contempt, and so on. By far, most cases settle, with less than 5% going to trial. But there’s a wide spectrum as to when in the process a case might resolve.

You know best how reasonable the other party will be and whether they will engage cooperatively and constructively. You also likely have a sense of whether we should expect urgent issues requiring immediate and substantial work.

Several factors influence representation costs, some beyond our control. However, we always work efficiently to maximize value and client satisfaction. Put another way, we realize this is expensive and can be financially and emotionally draining. We simplify the process and issues, helping you make thoughtful decisions and resolve your case efficiently.

Hourly Rates

Like most family law firms, we charge hourly rates. We don’t offer flat fees or put caps on our billing. The reason for this is that there is a very wide spectrum as to how much work and how much time it takes to resolve any particular case. Uncontested matters may take months, while contested cases can last two years and require multiple court appearances. A case won’t conclude until both parties are in full agreement or until trial concludes and a judgment issues. We will assess your financial resources to recommend the most suitable attorney on our team to lead your case. The more experience and expertise a member of our team has, higher their hourly rate typically is.

Our team largely consists of senior-level attorneys, many of whom have fifteen to over thirty years of experience. These attorneys bill between $400 and $650 an hour. We also have associate attorneys in their first five years of practice. They bill at lower rates, ranging from $250 to $375 per hour. We have a very experienced support staff team of paralegals and legal assistants who bill at lower rates. Additionally, we offer reduced-fee billing through our Justice for All program. Consequently, clients who qualify can access associate attorney rates as low as $75 per hour.

Initial Retainer Payments

To hire the firm, you will sign a retainer agreement. Then, make an initial payment, typically between $1,000 and $2,500, to start the representation process. We refer to this payment as your initial retainer payment. We deposit retainer funds in the firm’s trust account, IOLTA, where they remain until the representation ends. You’ll keep a payment method on file to cover attorney fees and costs as they accrue weekly. At the conclusion of the representation, we’ll refund your retainer payment back to you.

We determine the retainer amount based on our assessment of the expected busy week of work on your file. For uncontested matters, such as mediation, out-of-court negotiation, prenuptial agreements, or others that don’t require a court appearance, we typically require a $1,000 initial retainer.

Should your case already be filed in court as a contested matter or it’s reasonably likely to require that to occur, then we’ll likely require a $2,500 initial retainer payment. If the matter is contested and continues beyond the pretrial or settlement conference phase, we’ll likely require a larger retainer, typically of $5,000 as more work is expected and the likelihood that a judge would permit our withdrawal is reduced.

If a trial is scheduled or expected soon, we will require a retainer to cover expenses through trial. After the trial, we will reassess the remaining work and likely reduce the retainer to $1,000.

Weekly Billing Process

Unlike most family law firms, we bill on a weekly basis. Billing typically runs every Friday. We do this for a few reasons.

First, You shouldn’t have to wait a month to see what your family law firm has charged you. A lot can happen in a month, particularly if you have urgent or emergency issues that require one or more court appearances. We would not want to wait weeks after something occurred in our cases before we saw the billing, so we aren’t going to make you wait.

Second, weekly billing means smaller, spread-out payments. While the overall cost may not be less, the individual payments will be, and that can make the expense more manageable for you.

Each week, so long as there was activity on your file since the prior billing, you’ll receive a detailed statement outlining all work performed on your file, by whom, and at what rate. You’ll receive a draft statement each Friday morning, followed by a charge to your payment method on file later in the day. The payment will be equal to the amount of fees and costs which accrued since the last billing. The payment will be made using your method on file and the funds will be added to your retainer held in trust.

Next, the funds added to the trust account will be applied to the billing, reducing your funds in trust back to the amount you’re required to maintain. Each statement will contain a detailed accounting of all funds added to and withdrawn from our IOLTA.

Full Representation vs. Limited Representation

Most of our clients hire us for full representation. When you do that, we’ll take the lead on all aspects of strategy, timing, and process. You’ll still be a partner, but we’ll do all the communicating with opposing counsel, will be leading our side of the discussion in court, and working with you as chief strategist on your case. We’ll evaluate your case fully and educate you at the outset and as the case progresses. Our best client is an informed client who can exercise good judgment with our counsel. This is the essence of full representation.

Limited assistance representation (LAR) is a great option for clients who have the resources to have a great team when it’s needed most, but not for full representation. With limited representation, we can design our role around your needs, instead of handling all aspects of the case. For some clients, we may play an out-of-court coaching role, in which we educate and give advice. In other cases, we may be engaged to handle a discreet issue, such as representation at a settlement conference or single hearing. Because LAR does not require court approval to withdraw as counsel, many of our limited assistance representation clients engage us this way to better manage the expense of litigation, with more power to cease representation before the cost exceeds their budget.

Not every case is suitable for LAR engagement. A consultation is a good way to determine if it is.

Justice for All Program | Reduced Fee Limited Assistance Representation

Family law cases tend to deal with the most important issues in people’s lives. Yet about 80% of those in family court proceed without representation, either because they cannot afford to hire an attorney or because they are turned away by pro bono providers.  In an effort to address this issue, Turco Legal has established the Justice for All Program, providing clients having less financial resources with reduced-fee representation by our associate attorneys and support staff. Associate attorney hourly rates under this program are as low as $75 an hour.   CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR JUSTICE FOR ALL PROGRAM

Pro Bono Family Law Representation

Our attorneys take on a limited number of pro bono clients who are not obligated to pay us any fees. We are highly selective in the cases we take on and always take these cases on in a limited representation. To be eligible for the program you must demonstrate: (1) a compelling need for legal help; (2) a lack of financial resources to afford regular or reduced fee representation; (3) a family law case, such as a divorce, custody, support, modification, or contempt; and, (4) that a legal aid organization has declined to take on your case. We assist most pro bono clients in helping them strategize their cases and drafting documents they can file in the court. We also go to court on some, but few, cases and argue on the client’s behalf.