How did you finance your legal fees?

Own-Cabinet-8616 · 2022-08-12T18:30:20+00:00

I put it on a credit card with a $20k limit. I have been trying to pay it down as aggressively as I can monthly. Every time I knock off a few thousand, I get another bill from the lawyer. Interest is about $120 a month. I’m getting near the end and have to refinance the house. I am going to get cash back from the refi to pay off whatever the balance is. So far I’ve charged around $20k and have a $10k balance. I am expecting another $5k bill from the lawyer by the end of the month.

This was all spent to get 50/50 custody of the kids. The kids want to live me with. She’s living with her mother 45 mins from their school and they hate it. That was the only thing contested. I basically added another $10k in cash to our settlement to get 50/50. She is greedy and using the kids as leverage. So sad.

Luckily we have a final agreement. Just waiting for the final edits to review and sign. Hopefully this will all be over soon.

jimsmythee · 2022-08-12T22:27:06+00:00

I was proactive about keeping my costs low. I did 99% of my communication with my lawyer’s paralegal over email only, cheapest way.

Then I put some on credit card and some I borrowed from family. I kept my lawyer fees to $5000 and that included a 3 hour trial.

Adorable_FecalSpray · 2022-08-12T18:08:24+00:00

Fortunately my lawyer was kind enough to put me on a payment plan. I worked on payments for close to 2 years. I was then able to pay the last few thousand off due to a bonus from work and a generous gift from a family member.

I also got a part-time job that I held for almost 2 years to help put towards legal and other debt.

I consider myself very fortunate.

stent00 · 2022-08-12T22:05:39+00:00

I took out loans and lines of credit. Then When it was all done went bankrupt as I had no means of paying it off due to 50% child support

Striking-Trainer8148 · 2022-08-13T01:22:57+00:00

Many lawyers will work with the expectation of getting paid when you sell your house as a part of the divorce

upvotersfortruth · 2022-08-13T03:00:23+00:00

Go to your lawyer and tell him your monthly budget, they’ll often let you pay over time at no or very low interest. Financing through a credit card is high risk if those default or penalty interest rates kick in.

trashy615 · 2022-08-13T08:42:01+00:00

Fuckload of overtime

Dwro1234 · 2022-08-13T11:01:45+00:00

Refinanced my car, essentially took it to negative equity. Was the cheapest option in terms of interest rates.

Seemedlikefun · 2022-08-13T12:17:27+00:00

Has anyone prepaid an attorney (retainer) prior to filing? Would that be considered marital debt?

vvrider · 2022-08-13T19:35:24+00:00

I am close to nothing due to lawyer costs, and a few months went into a negative balance
1. I try to pay the bills every month
2. When it is not enough, I take from credit card and then pay back as much as I can next month
3. Try to borrow from friends/family
4. Don't be emotional. It costs a dime. Keep it all in emails and try to plan the communication, to know how much it will cost
5. My friend, agreed on fixed costs when the situation was kind of stable and predictable. He said it saved him a ton of money. Though not every lawyer would go for it

The system is totally broken. Unfortunately nobody cares how we should pay our legal bills
Even if you have no money, you still have to pay everyone and there is no answer how...

How can you pay alimony, mortgage, lawyers every month... And nobody wants to care
Yeah. Really tough lesson...

Fabulous-Zombie-4309 · 2022-08-15T17:53:16+00:00

Beg, borrow, steal.

Ok, not steal, unless you count borrowing from my 401(k) and losing time in the market for the measly 2% I get when I pay it back.

Borrowed $10k from an uncle, I could ask for more but he's got dementia and I'd feel better if his money was spent on his own care than my shitty divorce. Pulled about $20k out of retirement, most of it via 401(k) loans but some was from a ROTH I had to clear out anyway because my ex and I make above IRS limits for ROTH contributions.

Title	How did you finance your legal fees?
Author	Longmonster75
Upvotes	5
Comments	12
Date	August 12, 2022 5:38 PM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/wmr6tl/how_did_you_finance_your_legal_fees/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/how-did-you-finance-your-legal-fees.1209108 https://theredarchive.com/post/1209108

Comments