Practical Strategies to Reduce Your Legal Fees During Divorce

Legal fees escalate quickly when you’re in the family law arena so here are some practical strategies and smart ways you can keep your legal fees to a minimum while you’re navigating your divorce.

1. Consolidate Your Questions

Rather than sending multiple emails with piecemeal questions, create a list of issues and send them to your lawyer all at once. It’s more efficient for your lawyer to respond this way, saving you time and money.

2. Email, Don’t Call

Written communication allows you to be concise and stay on point. When people speak, they tend to waffle or talk around in circles. Emails ensure clarity and efficiency, helping your lawyer address your concerns quicker (= less expensively).

3. Delegate to Lower-Cost Team Members

Request that your legal team use associates or paralegals for routine tasks, saving your lawyer's expertise (and your $$$) for complex issues. Asking for a lower-cost team member for most work can be a significant cost saver.

4. Be Organised

And this is where I can help you. Prepare and organise your documents in advance. Submitting complete bundles rather than bits and pieces will reduce the time your lawyer spends sorting through your materials, minimising what they will charge you.

Be ready with complete and organised financial information. Again, this helps your lawyer work more efficiently and keeps your family law fees down.

5. Have a Clear Plan

Knowing what outcome you want and sticking to it prevents unnecessary back-and-forth. Consistency leads to fewer billable hours. With all my 1:1 clients we map out a clear plan from the beginning, often even before they connect with a lawyer, enabling them to choose an aligned team.

6. Dispute Resolution Options

Explore your options and possible pathways for resolution. Mediation, collaborative law, or Family Dispute Resolution will save you both time and money (as well as a fair degree of stress and your sanity), compared to going to court. These methods are efficient and, while not necessarily a “cheap” option, far cheaper than litigation.

7. Reach Agreements Directly

If you and your ex-partner can reach an agreement on your own, have it documented and lodged in court by legal expert - lawyer or mediator. This drastically reduces legal fees, even if minor adjustments need to be made. Get objective, expert advice if you are choosing this pathway to ensure you know what your entitlements are.

8. Listen To Your Team & Act on Advice

Once you’ve chosen (wisely) your legal team, it’s imperative to be fully transparent with them. Tell the truth and don’t hide anything from them. They are the experts when it comes to the law so strongly consider taking their advice, provided it aligns with your personal values. Ignoring or delaying responding can prolong the process and inflate your legal costs.

9. Know What’s Most Important

Be clear on your end goal & your values. Understand the difference between wants and needs. Don’t get stuck on irrelevant issues—focus on the big picture and where you’re willing to compromise. Again, this is something I work on with all of my 1:1 clients -what’s most important and what can you let go?

10. Communicate Directly With Your Ex

Not possible for everyone, but if you can, communicating directly with your ex, without involving lawyers will keep your legal fees down as you navigate your divorce.

Keep a record of communication - a diary or spreadsheet of your discussions with your partner. This will make it easier for your lawyer to reference and reduces time spent on gathering facts.

Explore options for better communication with your soon-to-be-ex-partner. Extend the olive branch if you need to. If you can communicate directly with your ex—whether by email or in conversation—it can prevent miscommunication and help keep everyone’s legal fees down.

My Role As Your Divorce Coach & Strategist

Having a divorce coach or strategist ensures you stay organised and efficient throughout the separation process, supporting you to keep your costs down.

I also help you dial down the big emotions so you are able to play a smart, strategic game through your divorce and beyond, expediting the process and keeping things calm.

You have clarity from the outset - you know where you’re headed and how you will get there - and help coordinate your journey—saving you time, emotional energy, stress and, most importantly, MONEY.

A Clarity Consult with me has been a game-changer for so many of my clients, none of whom wished they had waited longer to get in touch.

It's a fraction of the cost of hiring a lawyer and sets you up with a smart strategy, hand-selected support team - including connections with savvy, values aligned lawyers - and the emotional support to get you through with the lowest cost - financially, energetically & emotionally - to your best outcome.

Book a FREE INTRO CALL with me to discuss how I can help you keep your legal fees down and divorce with less drama.