How Much Will a Lawyer Charge for an Uncontested Divorce?

What Is an Uncontested Divorce?

An uncontested divorce happens when you and your spouse agree on everything. You both want the divorce, and you've worked out all the details without fighting.

Here's what you need to agree on: how to split your property and belongings, who gets which debts, child custody plans if you have kids, child support payments, alimony or spousal support, and who keeps the house or car.

Because there's no arguing or court battles, uncontested divorces move faster and cost much less than contested ones.

Average Lawyer Fees for Uncontested Divorce

Flat Fee Arrangements

Many divorce lawyers offer flat fees for uncontested cases. This means one set price covers all the work from start to finish.

Flat fees typically range from $700 to $2,000, though some lawyers charge up to $3,000 depending on the case details. The fee usually includes filing all paperwork with the court, talking with your spouse's lawyer if they have one, reviewing your divorce agreement, going to court hearings with you, and making sure everything is done right. Flat fees help you budget better because you know the total cost before you start.

Hourly Rates

Some lawyers charge by the hour instead of a flat fee. The average hourly rate for family law attorneys is around $312 nationwide, but rates change a lot based on where you live.

Here's what you might pay per hour: small towns and rural areas charge $150 to $250, mid-size cities charge $250 to $400, and big cities like New York or San Francisco charge $400 to $650. Even simple tasks get billed. A quick phone call, reading an email, or making copies all add up on your final bill.

Rhode Island Costs

In Rhode Island, the average hourly rate for divorce lawyers is $250. For an uncontested case, simple cases with no kids and few assets might cost $1,500 to $2,500, medium complexity cases with kids or property might run $2,500 to $5,000, and higher complexity cases might reach $5,000 to $7,500. The court filing fee in Rhode Island is $160, which you pay on top of lawyer fees.

Factors That Affect Your Lawyer's Bill

Your Location

Where you live makes a big difference in cost. Lawyers in expensive cities charge more because their office rent, staff salaries, and cost of living are higher.

A divorce lawyer in Providence might charge $300 per hour, while a lawyer in a small Rhode Island town might charge $200 per hour for the same work.

Whether You Have Children

Cases with kids cost more, even when everyone agrees. Your lawyer needs extra time to review custody and visitation schedules, check child support calculations, make sure the agreement protects your children, and file additional paperwork required for cases with minors. Attorney fees can be higher if your case involves children, even if it's uncontested, because the court reviews these agreements very carefully.

How Much Property You Own

The more stuff you own together, the more work your lawyer must do. Simple cases with minimal assets cost less. Your lawyer needs more time when you have a house or multiple properties, retirement accounts or pensions, businesses or professional practices, stocks, bonds, or investment accounts, or valuable collections or assets. Each item needs proper paperwork to transfer ownership correctly.

Your Spouse's Cooperation

Even though it's called "uncontested," some spouses are easier to work with than others. If your spouse responds quickly to requests, provides documents on time, works together on decisions, and stays calm and reasonable, your lawyer spends less time, and your bill stays lower. But if your spouse drags their feet or changes their mind, the costs go up.

Your Lawyer's Experience

Lawyers with many years of experience usually charge more per hour, but they might need fewer total hours to finish your case. A newer lawyer might charge less per hour but take longer to do the same work. An experienced lawyer knows the fastest way to process paperwork, common mistakes to avoid, how local courts work, and what judges expect to see. This expertise can save you time and money in the long run.

What's Included in Your Lawyer's Fee

Most lawyers handling uncontested divorces provide these services: an initial meeting to discuss your situation and explain the process, document prep to create all required court forms, financial forms including disclosure statements, agreement review to make sure your settlement protects your rights, filing and submitting papers to the court, communication with your spouse or their lawyer, and a court appearance to go to the final hearing with you.

Some lawyers charge extra for copying and mailing documents, travel time to court, emergency requests, fixing mistakes in paperwork, and extra court hearings. Ask your lawyer what's included before you hire them.

Additional Costs Beyond Lawyer Fees

Court Filing Fees

Every state charges fees to process divorce papers. You must pay these fees whether you have a lawyer or not.

In Rhode Island, the filing fee is $160. If you can't afford it, you can ask the court to waive the fee by filing a Motion to Proceed In Forma Pauperis.

Service Fees

After filing, someone must deliver copies of the divorce papers to your spouse. This is called "service of process." You have a few options: sheriff service costs $40 to $100, private process server costs $50 to $150, certified mail costs $10 to $20, and waiver of service is free if your spouse agrees to sign.

Mediation Costs

Divorce mediation typically costs between $3,000 and $10,000 total, which you usually split with your spouse. Court-ordered mediation in Rhode Island is free for the first session.

Mediation helps if you're having trouble agreeing on one or two issues but want to avoid a full court battle.

Document Preparation Services

If you don't hire a lawyer, you might use an online service to prepare forms. These services typically cost $150 to $750.

They're cheaper than lawyers but don't provide legal advice or represent you in court.

Notary Fees

Some divorce documents need a notary's signature and stamp. Notary fees usually run $5 to $10 per page.

Other Possible Costs

You might also pay for copies of certified court documents at $10 to $30 each, parenting classes if you have kids at $30 to $100, property appraisals at $300 to $500, and credit reports at $10 to $40.

How to Save Money on Your Uncontested Divorce

Get Organized Before Meeting Your Lawyer

The more prepared you are, the less time your lawyer spends and the less you pay. Gather these documents before your first meeting: your marriage certificate, birth certificates for children, tax returns from the last 3 years, bank statements, mortgage documents, car titles, credit card statements, pay stubs, and retirement account statements. Put everything in labeled folders. Your lawyer can work faster when information is easy to find.

Agree on Terms Before Hiring a Lawyer

The more you and your spouse agree on before hiring lawyers, the less work your lawyers do. Try to decide who keeps which property, how you'll split debts, your custody schedule, and support amounts. You can use free online calculators to estimate child support and alimony. When you've worked out most details, your lawyer just reviews the agreement and files the papers.

Choose a Flat Fee Instead of Hourly Billing

Flat fees range from $700 to $2,000 and provide predictable costs. You won't worry about the meter running every time you call or email your lawyer.

Ask what the flat fee covers and whether any extra costs might come up.

Consider Limited Scope Representation

You don't have to hire a lawyer for everything. "Unbundled" or "limited scope" services let you hire a lawyer for specific tasks only. For example, you might fill out forms yourself but have a lawyer review them, negotiate on your own but hire a lawyer for the court hearing, or do most of the work yourself and pay a lawyer for advice as needed. This approach costs much less than full representation.

Use Online Divorce Services for Simple Cases

Online divorce services cost $150 to $750 and work well for simple cases with no children, minimal property, short marriages, and no disagreements. These services guide you through filling out forms but don't give legal advice or go to court with you.

Handle Tasks Yourself

Your lawyer charges for every minute of work. You can save money by making copies yourself, gathering all documents before meetings, sending papers by mail instead of having your lawyer do it, and keeping communications brief and organized. Every task you handle yourself means less on your lawyer's bill.

Ask About Payment Plans

Many lawyers understand that divorce is expensive. Some offer monthly payment plans, reduced retainer fees, and flexible payment schedules. Don't be afraid to discuss money concerns with your lawyer. They want to help and may have options you don't know about.

When You Might Need a Lawyer Even for an Uncontested Divorce

You can legally file for divorce without a lawyer in Rhode Island. But even when you and your spouse agree on everything, hiring a lawyer makes sense if you have:

Children: Custody and support agreements are complicated. A lawyer makes sure you understand your rights and that the agreement protects your kids.

Significant assets: Houses, retirement accounts, and businesses need special paperwork. Making mistakes can cost you thousands later.

Debt concerns: Debts after divorce can hurt your credit if not handled right. A lawyer ensures debts are properly divided.

Legal questions: If you're unsure about anything, a lawyer provides peace of mind. It costs less to hire a lawyer now than to fix problems later.

Complex paperwork: If divorce paperwork isn't filled out correctly, the court may reject it, causing delays. A lawyer gets it right the first time.

Many people try to save money by skipping a lawyer, then end up paying more later to fix mistakes. The Rhode Island divorce and family law team at Inman & Tourgee can review your case and explain your options.

Red Flags When Hiring a Divorce Lawyer

Watch out for these warning signs: promises guaranteed outcomes (no lawyer can guarantee results), won't explain their fees clearly, doesn't return calls or emails, charges for the first consultation without telling you, pressures you to hire them right away, has no experience with family law, and won't give you a written fee agreement. A good lawyer is upfront about costs, responsive to questions, and explains everything in plain language you understand.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Lawyer

Get clear answers to these questions during your consultation:

• Do you offer flat fees or only hourly rates?
• What's included in your fee?

How much is your retainer? What happens if the retainer runs out? Do you charge for phone calls and emails? How long does an uncontested divorce usually take? Will you personally handle my case or pass it to another lawyer? Can I see a written fee agreement before I decide? What payment plans do you offer? Have you handled cases like mine before?

Get everything in writing. A good lawyer will give you a clear fee agreement that explains all costs.

Alternatives to Hiring a Full-Service Lawyer

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Divorce

If you handle everything yourself, you might only pay the $160 filing fee. This works for very simple cases where both spouses fully agree, there are no children, you don't own property together, neither person wants alimony, and you're both comfortable with paperwork. Rhode Island courts provide free forms on their website. But one mistake can delay your divorce for months.

Online Divorce Services

These services are a middle ground between DIY and hiring a lawyer. They cost much less than lawyers but provide more help than doing it alone. Most services ask you questions about your situation, fill out the right forms for you, give you filing instructions, and guarantee courts will accept the forms. They don't provide legal advice or represent you in court.

Lawyer for Document Review Only

Some lawyers will review your paperwork for a flat fee without handling the whole case. This usually costs $300 to $800 and helps catch mistakes before filing.

This approach works well when you've done most of the work but want an expert to check everything.

What Happens After You Hire a Lawyer

Here's what to expect during an uncontested divorce in Rhode Island: an initial meeting where you explain your situation and goals, document gathering where you provide financial info and asset details, agreement drafting where your lawyer prepares the divorce agreement, filing where your lawyer files papers with the Rhode Island Family Court, service where your spouse receives copies of the paperwork, a waiting period that Rhode Island requires between filing and finalization, a hearing that the court schedules about 11 weeks after filing, and a final decree where the judge signs your divorce decree. Uncontested divorces in Rhode Island take 3 to 6 months on average.

Understanding the Retainer Fee

When you hire a lawyer, they usually ask for a retainer fee first. This is not the total cost—it's a deposit. Here's how it works: you pay the retainer, often $1,500 to $5,000, the lawyer puts it in a special account, as they work they bill against this amount, you get monthly statements showing what they've done, if the retainer runs out you pay more, and if money is left over at the end you get it back. The retainer protects both you and the lawyer. It ensures the lawyer gets paid and shows you're serious about hiring them.

Uncontested vs. Contested Divorce Costs

Understanding the cost difference helps you see why working together saves money. Uncontested divorce averages $1,500 to $5,000 in cost, takes 3 to 6 months, usually has just one court appearance, and requires minimal lawyer work. Contested divorce averages $15,000 to $30,000 or more in cost, takes 12 to 18 months or longer, has multiple hearings and possibly trial, and requires extensive lawyer work. For those with disputes who settled without trial, average costs were $10,600, while those going to trial averaged $20,400 or more.

The more you fight, the more you pay. Every disagreement means more lawyer time, more court dates, and higher bills.

Common Mistakes That Increase Costs

Avoid these mistakes that make your divorce more expensive: poor communication where not responding to your lawyer quickly causes delays and extra work, incomplete information where missing documents mean your lawyer spends time tracking them down at your expense, changing your mind where constantly revising agreements means your lawyer redoes work you already paid for, fighting over small things where arguing about a $200 chair wastes thousands in lawyer fees, not staying organized where your lawyer can't find information and spends billable time looking for it, ignoring deadlines where missing court dates or filing deadlines creates extra work and possibly penalties, and using your lawyer as a therapist where lawyers charge hundreds per hour and you should use friends, family, or an actual therapist for emotional support.

Tax Considerations and Divorce Costs

Since 2019, alimony payments are no longer tax-deductible for the payer or taxable income for the recipient under federal law. However, child support was never tax-deductible.

Legal fees for divorce are generally not tax-deductible. In the past, you could deduct fees related to alimony, but this changed with recent tax law updates.

Talk to a tax professional about your specific situation, as state laws may differ.

Final Thoughts

Most lawyers charge between $1,500 and $5,000 for an uncontested divorce, with Rhode Island lawyers averaging around $2,500 to $4,000 for typical cases. Flat fees give you predictable costs, while hourly billing can add up quickly.

Your total cost depends on where you live, whether you have kids, how much property you own, and how well you and your spouse work together. The more organized and cooperative you are, the less you'll pay.

While you can legally handle a divorce yourself, hiring a lawyer even just for document review can save you from costly mistakes down the road. The team at Inman & Tourgee has over 125 years of combined experience helping Rhode Island families through divorce and family law matters.