Top Three Tips to Keep Legal Fees Down in Your Connecticut Divorce

Updated November 26, 2023

There are three different ways to look at the cost of a Connecticut divorce – monetary cost, emotional cost, and time. Today we are focused on one piece of the financial puzzle — legal fees. Legal fees — along with items such as how property is divided, whether and how much alimony and spousal support will flow, issues involving homes and businesses, and child support — are one of the financial considerations in a divorce or other family law matter.

Nothing about divorce is “one size fits all,” including the legal fees involved. That said, the things that prolong a divorce and make it financially and emotionally expensive generally look similar from case to case. Some of the factors that impact the legal fees include the complexity of the assets involved, whether there are children, your spouse’s attorney, and how those involved choose to handle the legal process.

More than anything, the level of cooperation or conflict that exists between the two people divorcing has the most significant impact on legal fees. Although you can’t control your spouse’s decisions, timeframe, or lawyer, you are in charge of yourself and that is very powerful.

Without further ado, here are our top three tips on how you can control legal fees when working with your divorce attorney.

Help Control the Legal Fees in Your Divorce

Tip 1 – Use Your Divorce Paralegal

As we’ve mentioned, not every member of your team has the same hourly rate, and at Freed Marcroft we allocate work so that it is done by the most efficient member of your team for that purpose.  When you have a question, contact your paralegal first. Freed Marcroft paralegals are very experienced family law paralegals, and can provide tons of answers themselves. They are also our resident air traffic controllers, so your paralegal will identify when an attorney is the best fit to help you with your question, and get you set up. Plus, because divorce attorneys are often in court and paralegals are mainly in the office, they not only help you get correct answers, but they get them to you quickly.

Tip 2 – Streamline Communications With Your Divorce Lawyer

Legal teams bill for their time, so the more streamlined you can be in your communications with your team the better – for example consolidating multiple topics into one email, call, or meeting and getting documents and information over to your team when they request them saves time and, therefore, financial resources. At Freed Marcroft we are continually building out our complimentary library of client resources to help give clients insights and an overview of different parts of the divorce process. This will let you learn more about what is coming next in your divorce and what to expect, and also sets you up to have a more streamlined conversation with your legal team that’s focused on your specifics. For example, our monthly Client Community Calls have covered everything from how to plan in advance for a smooth first holiday season to what to expect at court.

Tip 3

Don’t get stuck in the weeds. Identify what matters most to you in your divorce as soon as you possibly can. At Freed Marcroft, we have learned that this is so essential that we devoted our first step – the Goals & Planning Conference – to it. Identify your priorities and then keep your eye on that goal. When you are going through a divorce, it is way too easy to get caught up in a thousand different daily dramas. Doing that practically guarantees that you will be miserable. Instead, play the long game. Focus on what matters and let go of what doesn’t. This will save your sanity, and by not bringing the ins and outs of the day-to-day to your legal team, we will be able to devote our time to what matters most to you.

Next Steps

Thank you for reading our top three tips on how to control the legal fees in your Connecticut divorce. For more, check out our Founding Attorney Meghan Freed’s video “How to Use Your Connecticut Divorce Lawyer Efficiently” or book your Goals & Planning Conference. Contact us here.