Divorce – Cost and Process
Coming to the decision of divorce brings with it extreme emotional stress. This is an extremely private and personal matter and we are aware that our clients may feel vulnerable, hurt, exposed and betrayed. We are compassionate, and strive to give our sole attention to the clients and their respective situations.
It is important to us to immediately safeguard our client’s rights. We understand that each of our clients face their own unique situation which requires our complete and undivided attention.
With knowledge and peace of mind you will find yourself more empowered to face the decision-making processes you will encounter regarding your future.
The Cost of Divorce
The cost is influenced by factors such as whether the divorce is opposed or unopposed, whether minor children are involved, where the parties reside, their nationalities etc.
An unopposed divorce could cost considerably less than an opposed divorce.
In the event of divorce becoming inevitable, an unopposed divorce is the ideal scenario. This can potentially save the couple considerable amounts of time and money. Care should be taken to ensure that a proper settlement agreement is in place to protect all the parties.
The cost of a contested divorce could be considerably higher.
Divorce proceedings are instituted or defended, depending on the nature of the divorce. The complexity and accompanying cost of a divorce could be significantly influenced by factors such as:
• Maintenance and child support
• Contact and visitation of children
• Parental care of children
• The grounds for divorce
The speed and efficiency with which a divorce is handled can not only reduce the cost of the process, but also minimize potential emotional damage often associated with divorce, at Visagie Attorney’s this is taken into consideration.
The Process
UNCONTESTED DIVORCE
The Uncontested Divorce is much faster and cheaper than the Contested Divorce. If you and your spouse arrive at an agreement on most or all of the issues. Our team can then proceed to promptly finalise the matter.
Only one of the spouses hires an Attorney to deal with their divorce matter. We draft and file all the required documentation – Combined Summons and Settlement Agreement etc. and the other un-contesting spouse, reads and signs the Agreement. The un-contesting spouse may contact us as the Attorney on record for their spouse and ask questions. You should bear in mind that the Attorney on record’s loyalty at all times will be with the spouse from whom they received the instruction. At Visagie attorney’s we will inform the un-contesting spouse that they are welcome to have the agreement checked out by another attorney for complete peace of mind.
CONTESTED DIVORCE
When the Parties concerned are not able to reach an agreement, it is regarded as a Contested Divorce. Although the majority of these types of divorce become settled before they end up in Court, the proceedings usually last more than six months and sometimes can take years before finalisation. The time factors involved and the amount of work required from your Attorney can make it quite costly for the pocket and the nerves.
We charge an hourly rate for these Divorces as an advance assessment of total hours to be spent is impossible. Most of the other Professionals who become involved in this matter should it be necessary – for example Trial Advocates, Psychologists, Financial experts etc. charge an hourly tariff.
Below is an explanation of the traditional South African Court system and these Divorces fall into the following five stages:
• Preparation
• Filing of Pleadings
• Settlement
• Discovery
• Trial
Preparation:
The attorney handling the matter will ask the client a great deal of questions as to familiarise with the particular situation and begin to prepare for the case in hand. Therefore, the client should provide the attorney with all information and documentation required and answers the questions honestly and comprehensively so that the attorney can efficiently represent them. After consultation and obtaining this information the attorney drafts the initial documents which, the client signs once satisfied with them.
Filing of Pleadings:
Following this, instruction is sent to the Sheriff of the particular jurisdictional area concerned, to serve the Combined Summons and Particulars of Claim upon the client’s spouse. Once served, these documents are then filed with the Court. After the defending spouse has responded to the services, and the pleadings have closed, we apply for a trial date.
Settlement:
Interestingly, the settlement process does not have to take place at any specific stage in the divorce proceedings. Although it would usually begin between filing of pleadings and discovery, it can take place even after discovery and before trial or, even during the trail itself.
Often a round table discussion for a settlement discussion is organised, whereby the attorney and client meets with the ‘other side’ to discuss a variety of settlement options. The Court normally requires that all parties attend a pre-trial hearing to discuss settlement of the disputed issues (but this is not always the case). If successful, a settlement that both parties consider fair and equitable is reached. The attorneys on record then commit those details to paper and draft a settlement agreement. This agreement sets out in writing all the terms that have been discussed and agreed upon by both parties and is signed by those parties in the presence of the witnesses concerned.
Discovery:
During the discovery stage the attorney requests to be furnished with a great deal of information from both you, the client, and also from your spouse’s attorneys about your spouse. This includes income information; bank and credit card statements; property documents etc. Your spouse will have to provide us with all of this information that we require, and will do so usually through their attorneys. Prior to this, perhaps even you may not have been able to have the opportunity to discover or access the information which our attorney is provided with about your spouse. These facts are vital in providing our attorneys with an indication of the focus the opposing attorneys will have on the issues in the matter. Needless to say, similar information is requested from your Attorney about their Client.
Trial:
After exhausting all the other alternatives, in the unlikely event that your case still has not been resolved, the attorney prepares for trial. The amount of concerns involved in each divorce case will decide the duration of each trial. Some cases are tried in a day; others last for several days and more. A single day in Court costs several thousands of rands for both sides, making the trial expensive from a fiscal and emotional viewpoint. Sadly, in some rare situations, this is unavoidable. Most of these cases that actually go to trial involve disputed Care and Contact; Division of Assets, and Maintenance Issues.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PROVIDED BY VISAGIE ATTORNEYS – RUSTENBURG
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