Oregon Divorce Frequently Asked Questions
No information below should be relied upon as formal legal advice. These answers should not be used in place of a personal consultation with a qualified lawyer.
How much does a divorce cost in Oregon?
People always want to know the cost and length of an Oregon divorce. Although a very common question, unfortunately, this is very difficult to answer accurately without information about the specific case. Lawyers generally bill on an hourly basis, which means that the cost of your divorce in terms of legal fees is directly correlated to the number of hours that your attorney spends working on your case. There are also some unavoidable court costs associated with the filing of a divorce in the state of Oregon. Other large expenses can include costs for expert witnesses, home evaluators, child custody evaluators, business evaluators, or deposition costs.
As a general rule, the more issues that are in dispute in your particular case, the higher the legal fees. This is because the attorney needs to spend more time working on your matter. Couples who are able to resolve all issues on their own don’t even necessarily need an attorney and can have a very inexpensive divorce. However, if a divorce goes to trial, or has any hearings in court, this is usually the most expensive phase for the case. It is also the reason that such a high number of cases settle without going to court.
The length of the case also depends largely on whether the case goes to trial. The kids can be completed as little as two weeks after the parties have agreed on all the matters and simply need a judgment to be drafted. However, if the case goes to trial, the parties are generally at the mercy of the court schedule, which can mean that the case can take six months or more. In some cases, a highly contested matter that has multiple court hearings can last in excess of a year.
At Jill Brittle Family Law Group, we do a flat fee evaluation of your case for $100. At this consultation, we look at the particular facts of your matter and try to give you a ballpark range of how much your case would cost at the upper end. Generally speaking, the more issues you are able to resolve without litigation, the less expensive you will be able to make your legal fees.
Call us today to schedule a consultation so that we can discuss the specifics of your case.