Nelson & Booth| Child Custody, Parenting Time & Visitation

Nelson & Booth
attorneys at law

How much does a domestic relations case cost?

The fees charged by Nelson & Booth are based on the time actually expended in your case, the complexity of the case, the novelty of the issues involved, and several additional factors. No domestic relations case (divorce, legal separation, annulment, child support, child custody, determination of parentage) is like any other, so there is no way that we can tell our clients how much any particular case will cost. Unlike many other service professionals, most of the time that lawyers spend on a client’s case is when the client is not with the lawyer. Although a lawyer’s work is based on the law, “the law” is not only contained in the written statutes, but also in thousands of appellate court cases applying that written law to particular facts. And, because application of the law in domestic relations cases is never “black-and-white,” lawyers spend much of the time they charge to a client in researching how to apply the law to the client’s situation, rather than merely finding out “what is the law.” Accordingly, a listing of “standard fees” is impossible. The exact fee will vary with the services the individual case requires.

Nelson & Booth works only on an hourly fee basis and our fees range from $150 to $350 per hour. We do not have “flat-fees” or “maximum fees.” The lawyers at Nelson & Booth handle complex domestic relations cases that require specialized knowledge and experience and about which there are rarely “easy answers.”

Our basic services include the initial client conference; preparation and filing the Petition; preparation of an Entry of Appearance to be signed by your spouse, or arranging for the sheriff to deliver the Petition; conferences to obtain information from you concerning your income and expenses and to make recommendations about and support; routine settlement negotiations with the other party or attorney; preparation or review of Final Journal Entry; and representing you at Court hearings.

We require payment for any initial consultation. We do not provide a “free consultation.” We have found that the most valuable information we give to our clients and potential clients is in our initial consultation.

If a client wants to retain our services, we require payment of a refundable deposit on future fees (a “retainer”). We cannot start work on any case until we receive full payment of the initial retainer amount.

We send out regular monthly billings so that our clients know the work that we performed for them during the previous month, the charges made to their account, the balance due at that time, and the amount that remains in their retainer account. We require full payment of any fees accumulated before we can attend the “final hearing.” We will discuss our fees with you at the initial meeting, and we will have you sign a written contract for fees that you can terminate at any time.

It is important to know that although we try to hold down our fees, the fees that we charge are often controlled by forces over which we do not have power – the other party, the other attorney, the court, and what has happened before we become involved. The amount of anger and resentment between the parties, the degree of cooperation and agreement between the parties, the complexity of the issues that need to be decided, the kind of case that we are asked to handle, as well as many other factors have a direct effect on the amount of time which we will have to spend on your case and, therefore, the fees charged by our firm.

NELSON & BOOTH is a law firm engaged exclusively in a family law practice emphasizing complex domestic relations actions, including divorce and determination of parentage, property division, child custody, parenting time, spousal and child support and representation of parents in cases of international child abduction.

The attorneys at NELSON & BOOTH are licensed to practice only in the
states of Kansas or Missouri.

E-mail: Ronald W. Nelson or Joseph W. Booth

nelson & booth

attorneys at law

Last updated Monday, May 12, 2008