Who Pays for a Divorce?

In most cases, spouses follow the American Rule for paying divorce attorney fees and court expenses. The rule states that each party has to pay his/her attorney’s fees if it is provided for in a contract or statute. In the following circumstances divorce attorney fees can be recovered from other party:

When the income disparity between the spouses is considerable.
When one party submits an application to the court for an award of legal fees, and the court directs the other party to bear the cost.

A court can order the award of attorney fees according to state laws. For example, Utah’s Code Section 30-3-3(1) allows the courts to order a spouse to pay attorney fees, either fully or partially. The same code section also specifies that if the spouse who has petitioned for award of attorney fees can take care of herself/himself by earning an income or by any other means, the award can be denied.

Here’s the breakdown of the circumstances in which a court can award legal fees to a spouse:

Income Disparity

When one spouse is the breadwinner and the other spouse a homemaker, or when one spouse is employed in a high-paying job (for example, a surgeon or a lawyer) and the other in a less high-paying job, the disparity in income is huge and the court is likely to order the “monied” spouse, or the spouse who has more control over the home finances, to pay the legal costs.

From our experience, huge income disparities occur in 2–3% of divorce cases filed in Utah. In these cases, the “monied” spouse is directed by the court to pay the other party’s attorney fees.

Application for Award of Legal Fees

Typically, a dependent spouse who is eligible for alimony or post-divorce support petitions for an award of attorney’s fees. In some cases, a spouse can petition for legal fees if the other spouse has deserted her/him, committed adultery or some other unjustified or cruel act.

If one party has applied for an award for recovery of legal costs, the court considers a variety of factors for calculating the legal fees that can be awarded, such as the petitioning spouse’s earning capacity (existing as well as future), the nature of the case and its complexity, the average fees charged by attorneys in similar cases, length of litigation, and the final outcome of the case.

In some cases, usually involving violations of a court order, the court orders the non-prevailing party to pay a good portion of the attorney’s fees of the prevailing party.

Awarding attorney fees is not an exact science. It depends on the facts and complexities of the case.

About the Author: Marco Brown

Marco C. Brown was named Utah’s Outstanding Family Law Lawyer of the Year in 2015. He graduated with distinction from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2007 and is currently the managing partner of Brown Family Law, LLC.

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Met with Daniel and he was amazing. He answered every single question I had and never made me feel dumb for the questions I was asking. He made things very easy to understand and follow. So grateful! Keep up the great work!

Response from the owner: Kayla, thank you and so glad Daniel was able to answer your questions and help you.

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Daniel Young and Carren Levitt from Brown Family law have been very kind to me during my court process. It’s been a lengthy process and during this process, one of my grandchildren needed surgery. They were very thoughtful and kind and sent flowers to her. I have a cognitive delay, They have been very kind and compassionate and patient with me. The whole staff is truly been kind.

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Brown Family Law was a very effective, communicative and hard-working representation in my recent case.They were transparent and responsive to my questions and concerns.Kim, Marco and their team were the best group of attorneys to have in my corner.Hopefully I'll never need a Family Law Attorney again, but if I do, I'll be calling Brown Family Law.

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Dani is great to work with! She responds quickly and is reliable. She knows her stuff!

Response from the owner: Linzi, thank you for your kind words about Dani. Glad she was able to help you with your case.

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They are very efficient and Ray was exceptionally efficient, helpful and caring. I definitely recommend them.

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McCray Jensen

Sophie was an amazing person to work with. She helped walk me through many of my concerns I had in a clear and concise manner. She regularly followed and reached out with me, making me feel like not just another number.

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Ray did an outstanding job. Would highly recommend.

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Had an hour consultation. Answered all the questions I had, explained everything in an understandable way and followed up.

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Carren and Jason were very helpful and quick to respond to my questions and concerns as we worked through my divorce, I would recommend them to anyone.

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When I started my case with Brown Family Law, they had 650 positive reviews. Now, about a year later, they have 820. Not sure how much else you need to convince you, but do yourself a favor and stop looking. You're in the right place.We worked with Nathaniel for nearly a year on our case, and trusting someone with something so vulnerable and close to you as a custody case is difficult, but he made it easy. His knowledge of law and experience with the court system allowed us to make educated decisions quicker. He helped me feel confident in very unfamiliar territory, and having someone like Nate on my team allowed me to make the best decisions possible for our family. He thought of many things I didn't, and gave us the roadmap to success for navigating a complicated and stressful situation. I found myself constantly bragging about our lawyer to family and expressing how impressed I was in his skill and his fearless nature of getting sh** done. Nate got that dawg in him, yanno what I mean?I like the way Brown Family Law works with their clients; it's different than other law firms, and I can see the benefits of those differences. It's always easy to contact someone at the office, and I get a response very quickly. They are extremely communicative, fast, and thorough. They run a tight ship, and it's obvious the quality differences from other law firms.This is a big and heavy decision, but Brown Family Law will take a lot of that weight off your shoulders. Ask for Nate--you won't be led astray.

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Response from the owner: You're welcome, Ryan. And thank you for the kind words.

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Nathaniel was my attorney and I couldn't ask for someone more attentive and level-headed than he is. They made my divorce process so much easier and were very patient with me as I navigated the entire process. Thank you Brown Family Law for all of your help!

Response from the owner: Samantha, thank you and so glad Nathaniel did such a good job for you.

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Used Nathaniel Garrabrandt for a child custody case. He is very good, very professional and available. Having been through this a few times that communication is very important. The only warning, and this isnt just Nate per se, but very very costly.

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Lei was something special. She was very understanding of our situation and her advice and listening ear made our decision and path forward clear. Thank you!

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Andrew did a great on my case. Communication was consistent, to the point and he kept me well informed. I also had the pleasure working with Clay. Top notch firm, very confident, and I would highly recommend them if you want to win. Thanks again team ~D

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I would hands down suggest Brown Family Law. Nathaniel helped me with my divorce, and he was very knowlegeable and knows his stuff. He helped me file a motion, get somethings changed in the original decree, helped me understand the terms they use, helped me understand how child support is calculated along is all the financial aspects associated with divorce case. He also is very responsive to phone calls and emails which was very helpful whenever I had small questions. Thank you Nathaniel!

Response from the owner: Andrew, thank you for your kind words.

Ryan Burns

I can’t say enough good things about Brown Family Law, but more specifically, my lawyer David Handy and his paralegal Dani. They are kind and honest and always available to me when I’ve needed them! This is such an exhausting time and they alleviated all of my stress by taking control. I could trust the process knowing I was in great hands!!! The entire law firm works as a team to take care of you! I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you!!!

Response from the owner: Ryan, so glad David and Dani served you so well and alleviated your stress.

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They handled my case with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity and made every effort to be efficient and transparent with me throughout the whole process. I was told that they were the best as far as family law is concerned and I believe that praise was fully justified.

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Jonathan Porter

Amber McFee is always professional and great to work with. Being opposing counsel by nature is adversarial, but Amber is professional in approach while effectively advocating for her clients. She will treat you right!

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Devin R

Overall from start to finish the best experience to have dealing with a time that is difficult.Andrew Christensen is very professional and out going to make this situation the best it could be and worked hard to make sure the divorce was fair for me.Over all, this firm really cares and treats you as a family or friend and just not a client, down to Marco Brown taking time to see how I was doing and offer to help in any way possible during my divorce while I was there for my first initial meeting.I would highly recommend anyone that has to go through a divorce to really reach out to the Brown Family Law firm and see for your self the experience I was able to receive from a top notch law firm.

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People Also Ask

Who Pays for a Divorce?

Income Disparity

Application for Award of Legal Fees

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Check out what some of our real life clients had to say about working with Brown Family Law

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