Shedding Light on the Cost of Custody Court: An In-Depth Guide

What are the Factors that Affect the Cost of Custody Court

The costs associated with custody court can vary greatly. These differences are attributed to the complexities of cases, attorney’s fees, and court fees.
A major cost of custody litigation is attorney’s fees. When a litigant retains an attorney, the litigant enters into a contract with the attorney to perform services. The contract terms govern the transaction between the litigant and the attorney regardless of whether the contract is verbal or written. Most attorneys, however, do not complete the highly contested cases for the retainer that they received. Additionally, attorneys may have to perform unusual work outside of the scope of the retainer contract which could lead to high legal bills. For example, if an adolescent child refuses to testify during an equally shared physical custody case, the attorney may have to interview everyone who interacted with the child to assess the child’s preferences. The child’s testimony is important for the court to determine the best interests of the child. Therefore, the attorney will have to spend many hours performing this work.
Custody and child support cases also require substantial court fees, filing fees, and other administrative fees. These fees include, but are not limited to, mediation tax, witness fees and service of process fees. For example, a custody motion filing fee is approximately $103.00 per motion in Allegheny County . This filing fee is non-refundable regardless of any outcome. The motion must be filed with the court and paid as a matter of course. If a motion for a change of venue is filed for the court to transfer the case to another jurisdiction, the parties will have to pay the filing fee in the new county. The $103.00 filing fee already paid for the first motion will not be reduced or credited toward the filing fee for the second motion.
The complexity of the case influences the cost for which a litigant will be responsible. In simple custody cases, it is expected that the litigants will spend less than in highly contested custody matters. On the other hand, generally, more complex custody matters require more court and legal fees. For travel time to court appearances, hearings, and trial, lawyers charge travel time at the same rate the lawyer would bill for an in-office meeting, consultation, and phone calls. For instance, if a lawyer charges a client $300.00 per hour and it takes the lawyer fifty (50) minutes to get to and from an overnight hearing, the lawyer would charge the client $300.00 for travel time. If trial takes three (3) days, the lawyer could charge the client $2,700.00 in travel time. In addition to attorney’s fees and court costs, litigants may have to pay for court ordered psychological evaluations, guardian ad litem’s, and expert witnesses.

Average Custody Court Costs

The cost associated with custody court, like any other type of litigation, varies according to a number of factors. There are a range of costs that may be incurred, depending upon the issues raised and the amount of work that the issues require. Despite the variation, the overall expenses generally fall within a typical range.
As a general rule, the cost of contested custody proceedings is significantly higher than the overall costs of uncontested custody matters. For a contested custody matter, the fees and costs for the retainer and the "all-in" amount in the end is in the range of $7,500 to $10,000. An uncontested custody matter costs substantially less. If one party is represented by an attorney and cannot obtain the agreement of the other party, but still wishes to go forward, the party who is represented by an attorney will have incurred fees of approximately $1,500 to $2,000 to complete the process through the entry of a consent court order. If both parties are represented, the costs increase. The costs associated with a consent order or a custody settlement, in that case, will range from $3,000 to $4,000.
There are other costs to moving for a custody proceeding/expedited custody hearing. These may include mediator costs, an experts fee to draft a custody evaluation, expert fees, administrative costs associated with child custody evaluations and home studies, counsel fees, transcription services, medical expert fees for doctors and therapists, appellate costs, and court fees. These costs can rise into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Legal Fees Breakdown

The various options to pay legal fees can be as diverse as the clients we serve. In most cases, you can expect us to charge by the hour until your litigation is completed. Our hourly rate for litigation matters is $350.00 per hour in Oregon and $375.00 per hour in Washington. If your litigation will have a fixed start and end date and is not likely to involve any unexpected complexity, we may offer you a flat fee. In most cases, this means that you will pay a flat fee to the lawyer and one or two paralegals until the scheduled end of litigation. Of course we will be happy to charge by the hour if the flat fee arrangement does not work for you. Again in most cases, once a case is assigned to a particular paralegal, that paralegal will handle all your file work. This saves time and money for our clients because the paralegals work at about half our hourly rate. For instance, if you tell us you want to pay for 30 hours of work, we will do everything we can to make that happen. Even after your case ends, the paralegals still perform legal work on your file. Indeed, we continue to lower your costs, when reasonable, until the 30 hours is reached. On occasion you will get a bill even if we have not used up the 30 hours or if it looks like we are finished. We do these things to eliminate surprises and protect you from capsizing your budget.

Court Fees & Other Related Expenses

Beyond basic retainer fees, there are other costs commonly associated with divorce and child custody proceedings. These may include filing court documents, process serves, document preparation fees, or even mediation. Usually, the court itself dictates the nature and amount of fees.
The most common type of fee paid by parents during a divorce or child custody proceeding is a filing fee. Every time you file a document with the court (complaint, motion for change of venue, notice of appeal), you must pay a filing fee. Filing fees vary by court, but generally, the same fees will be paid to the same court regardless of the nature or number of pleadings filed.
Most state and federal courts charge a standard filing fee for a complaint or original action. In divorce actions, for example, filing fees typically range from $100 to $200. Follow-up filings, such as a motion for modification of custody (filed after the original divorce action) may incur additional fees. Not all fees demanded by the court must be paid in full at the time of filing. Often, the court will allow a portion of the fee to be deferred. Generally, however, these fees must be paid before the close of the trial record.
The filing of a complaint or motion may also require the parent’s to contract with an outside agency to serve the parties with necessary documents. Fees for service of process vary depending on the court’s geographic location and copy requirements, but generally, they run from $50 to $100 per party. Often, there are additional charges for "certification" or "special request" services, such as delivery requests to a specific location or a specific witness. Typically, the court sets the fees for service of process.

Other Costs to Watch Out For

Beyond these primary expenses, there are several additional potential costs that parents should take into account, including custody evaluation costs, mediation costs, and travel costs.
In high conflict cases, the Court may appoint a custody evaluator. The cost of the custody evaluation gets divided between the parties. The evaluator’s hourly rate can range from $75 to $250 per hour. The total cost of your custody evaluation depends on the complexity of the case and the amount of time the evaluator spends with you, the child and the other parent. For my clients, the cost of the custody evaluation has ranged from $500 to $10,000 dollars.
Keep in mind – you have the right to object to the evaluator appointed and request a new evaluator. You can also object to the content of the evaluator’s report in Court , if you feel it is inaccurate or unfair.
Both parents have the right to attend mediation to resolve custody matters. In many counties, mediation is ordered prior to any custody hearing. Mediation is a lengthy process that requires a significant amount of preparation and participation. Your lawyer should not attend mediation for you. You are required to attend mediation personally. Both parents have to provide calendars with all information relevant to the schedule of the minor children for the Judge and/or Master to review.
Your financial contribution towards mediation will vary depending on your income level and the income level of the other parent. The amount of the fee can be withheld from your paycheck before you are paid so that you never actually have to write a check. My clients have been responsible for anywhere between $40 and $150 for mediation with the Judge.

How to Spend Less in Custody Court

Several factors can help you decrease the expense of custody litigation including: (1) a commitment to resolve your issues through mediation; (2) a commitment to compromise and thereby eliminate or decrease the number of contested issues presented to the Court for their decision; (3) a commitment to engage in collaborative parenting with the other parent; (4) a complete and honest disclosure of all assets, income and expenses so the Court can determine levels of support with accuracy; and (5) whether or not there is a history of domestic violence between you and the other party. If one party has committed acts of domestic violence against the other party or against one of the children the costs of custody litigation will be remarkably increased because in Pennsylvania a hearing must be conducted by the Court before any contact between the parent who committed the acts of domestic violence and the children can occur. Several days to several weeks of trial time may be required by the Court to conduct the necessary hearing or hearings and then to decide all of the other custody and support issues.

Financial Aid and Payment Methods

Numerous courts offer financial assistance programs for persons of limited means. Some courts have offices or divisions responsible for administering these programs. Through these offices, the court can make financial arrangements to ensure that everyone has access to the courts and no litigant is precluded from participation due to an inability to pay filing or other fees.
Individuals and their attorneys should contact the court administration of the custody court to learn about the availability of any financial assistance.
If financial assistance is not available from the court , other options may be available for financing the costs of representation. Attorneys offering alternatives to hourly billing include contingency fees, fixed fees and special payment plans.