When families split up, so does their cash. And more often than not, a lot of it goes into the pockets of a lawyer … just ask recent divorcee Steve Waters.
“It’s kinda one of the sad things, you know I look around and say man I could have a whole new dinning room set, new appliances, but if only I didn’t have to give it all to my lawyer.”
-Steve Waters, Divorcee
Divorce is a $28 billion dollar a year industry in the US, with the average case costing around $28,000… but it doesn’t have to. Best way to save? An uncontested do-it-yourself divorce. That you can do for as little as a few hundred bucks. Next up the price ladder is mediation: Average cost ranges between $1,500 and $5,000. Then there’s the traditional lawyer vs lawyer approach: average cost of that is more than $20,000.
“But what happened in the end was I said look, if we’re going to go to court to hash this stuff out, we’re looking at 50-thousand-dollars and that’s money we could spend on our son’s college education or whatever his needs are. And as I look around I sure wish I had those thousands of dollars back to do a little bit more.”
-Steve Waters, Divorcee
Bottom line? Bickering through lawyers is the single most expensive thing you’ll ever do. So if you’re getting divorced, keep lawyers to a minimum. Otherwise they’ll get richer… you’ll get poorer.
To find a mediator in your area who can help with a divorce, check out The Association for Conflict Resolution.
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