Many people don't realize how the attorney fees can build quickly. Every phone call or email is billable. While your attorney is your advocate, the more you can do on your own case, the lower the fees. Since 90% of divorce is financial, you can get a lot accomplished with a financial professional helping you prepare the financials before, as well as after retaining the attorney.
During the divorce process taking you spouse to court will likely cost approximately $2,500 each. That's $5,000 less to divide at the end. Family courts can lead to very unexpected outcomes. Even attorneys are surprised at the decisions. Therefore, even a strong case with evidence may not be granted. Best to plan an alternate strategy to attempt to get to what's fair.
There is no one size fits all in divorce, although the system tends to put you on a conveyor belt in an attempt to get you and your spouse to attain settlement. With a thorough review of your assets, liabilities and future needs before you get too far into the process, you can bypass certain procedures and potentially get to a fair settlement, and in a much shorter period of time.