Vestavia Divorce Lawyers & Divorce Attorneys

For Vestavia and other Jefferson County residents considering divorce, our Vestavia Divorce lawyers are here to help guide you through the entire process. Divorce is never easy, but it can be much simpler and more straightforward if you and your spouse are able to come to a mutual agreement when it comes to important issues like child support, property division, alimony, visitation, and other matters arising from the marriage. If you are able to opt for this route, our Vestavia divorce lawyers will work with you to get a cheap and quick divorce. In case you and your spouse are not able to reach a mutual agreement, our divorce attorneys can help you file for a contested divorce.

While contested divorces end up being more expensive than uncontested divorces, it is your next option should an agreement not be able to be reached. It is the only way to be awarded your assets or rights from a judge. This is why we advise couples looking to get a divorce to opt for an uncontested divorce when they are able to. Divorces in Vestavia Hills and Jefferson County are significantly simpler and cheaper when they are uncontested. At the moment, our Vestavia divorce attorneys are offering discounted flat fees for uncontested divorces in  Jefferson County, and throughout Central Alabama.

• $390 for simple uncontested divorces without minor children
• $490 for simple uncontested divorces with minor children

An uncontested divorce may require additional fees if there are substantial property or tax considerations involved, business interests, paternity issues, retirement issues, or any other complex issues that would require more time of the attorney. The filing fee that each county charges to file a divorce is not included in these fees. To get the process started, fill out and send us a questionnaire online by going to the right sidebar on this page. Call us anytime at (205) 201-1789 with any questions you may have about filing a divorce in Vestavia or anywhere else in Jefferson County.

Having reliable counsel through the divorce process is essential to filing it properly. Our Vestavia divorce lawyers can help you file all the paperwork and documents for an uncontested or contested divorce.  For divorces in Jefferson County, we invite you to reach out to our office. We will discuss all the details with your such as any required fees needed to initiate the process and other aspects over the phone.

If you and your spouse want a quick and cheap divorce in Vestavia, we recommend an uncontested divorce. This option works for couples who have reached agreements on all marital issues and will just need to fill out paperwork and provide certain documents to proceed. To begin, we will have you fill out a simple questionnaire explaining what you have agreed to (along with additional information necessary to prepare all of the required forms and documents) and our Vestavia divorce attorneys need you to return it to us in order to get the process started.

The process of filing for a no-contest or uncontested divorce is fairly simple. When you call us, then our Vestavia divorce attorney can answer any questions you may have over the phone and an in-office consultation is usually not necessary.  However, both you and your spouse must have reached an agreement in order to file for an uncontested divorce.

If an agreement cannot be reached and you wish to get divorced, then you will likely have to file a contested divorce.  This is where one party files for divorce and serves the other party with the divorce paperwork.  The other spouse, once served, has a limited amount of time to respond and if they do not, then the filing party may be able to receive their divorce by default.  If the other party does respond, then there will usually be hearings set and a contested divorce will begin.  A contested divorce continues until both parties either reach an agreement as to all contested issues or have a trial and let the judge in their case decide these issues for them.

Our Vestavia divorce lawyer can help you get a contested divorce, but the fees are much higher. Our divorce attorney requires a retainer up front in most cases. The divorce attorney then bills out of that retainer at an hourly rate until he or she has worked enough so that the retainer is empty. At that point you have to refill the retainer in order for the attorney to keep working on the case. Call us today and speak with our Vestavia divorce attorney who will conduct a quick phone consultation and quote you a retainer fee for your particular case.

It is always cheaper and simpler to reach an agreement beforehand and file an uncontested divorce, but if that is not possible then call our Vestavia divorce lawyers to discuss the contested divorce process in your county.

Our Vestavia divorce attorneys are currently charging a low flat rate of $390 to handle your simple uncontested divorce without minor children of the marriage and $490 if you do have minor children.  This does not include a filing fee that each county requires and this varies from county to county.

Even in a quick and easy uncontested divorce, each county can have different document requirements, so it is important to have a local divorce lawyer file your cheap divorce in Vestavia, Alabama.  If you reside in Vestavia, then your divorce will most likely be filed in Jefferson County Domestic Relations Court which has specific divorce requirements that other counties may not have.  For example, when filing a cheap and easy divorce in Jefferson County there are certain documents that must have language included in them that are unique to that county.  If you are filing a cheap divorce in Vestavia Hills, then there are very specific requirements concerning when your divorce documents should be signed and filed.  If these requirements are not met, and the proper motions and other pleadings are not filed in the proper way, then they are likely to dismiss your case and you will have to file it all over again.

If you are using an online divorce document preparation program, then they will usually not have such county-specific language in them and it can cause your divorce to be dismissed by the judge assigned to your case.  Our Vestavia divorce lawyers are familiar with all of these local rules and will work to ensure that all documents are filed correctly and in compliance with the local rules.  This is why an actual Vestavia uncontested divorce attorney is necessary and having a national online document preparation company prepare your divorce documents may not be the best decision.

If you live in Vestavia or the surrounding areas of Bessemer, Mountain Brook, Hueytown, Fairfield, Irondale, Pinson, Fultondale, Homewood, or Hoover then you will likely file your divorce in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County.  The Jefferson County Courthouse has a filing fee that must be paid when a divorce is filed.  If you call our Vestavia divorce attorneys today, then we can answer any questions you may have, including helping to determine what courthouse to file your divorce in.

While we encourage uncontested divorces whenever possible since it’s a much simpler process, our divorce attorneys also handle contested divorces in Vestavia. This is the appropriate filing when a mutual agreement is not reached beforehand and you have your spouse served with the Complaint. Typically, following the serving, the spouse finds an attorney to represent them and files a response. Hearings are then set and your disagreements are ultimately decided by a judge.

At The Harris Firm, our divorce lawyers will help you file a contested divorce properly. Unlike the uncontested route, the contested divorce attorney fees are significantly higher. As most family law firms do, our divorce attorneys in Vestavia require a retainer for contested divorce services. The lawyer then bills hourly and the amount billed each month, of course, depends on the amount of work performed.

Contested divorce retainers are thousands of dollars and exactly how much depends on the circumstances in your case. When there are minor children involved, retainers are generally more than without children, however there are other factors that affect your retainer quote in the end. Feel free to reach out to our office today. We can go over your case and inform you of the retainer required upfront to begin working on your case.  If you live in Vestavia or the surrounding areas within Jefferson County, then you will likely be filing in the Jefferson County Courts.

Our local Vestavia divorce attorney regularly files divorces in Jefferson and Shelby County. They are a member of the local Birmingham Bar Association and the Central Alabama Better Business Bureau.  If you call our Vestavia divorce lawyer today, then we can answer any questions you may have, including helping to determine what courthouse to file your divorce in.