Note that answers given in this section cannot take the place of independent legal or financial advise. Please read our disclaimer.

"I don't want to divorce so do I have to pay or will my spouse pay for the costs associated with the divorce?"

Unfortunately, whether or not you want the divorce is not necessarily relevant. Obviously, if you don’t want a divorce, you won’t be the one filing for a divorce in court, so you won’t incur those costs up front. But, if your spouse files for a divorce, you will need to hire an attorney and respond to your spouse in court, which means that you will then incur court costs and attorney’s fees. What’s more, if you are the primary wage earner, or if you have control of the marital assets and your spouse does not, then it is likely that either you will have to pay for your spouse’s court costs and attorney’s fees as well as your own, or the money will come from marital assets. All of that is true regardless of whether you want a divorce or not.

Karen A. Covy, J.D. is a divorce attorney and family-law mediator in Chicago, Illinois. She owns and operates Midwest Mediation as well as a successful family-law firm. She can be reached at (312) 236-1670. View her Divorce Magazine profile.

Tuesday, May 15
at 8 pm to 8:30 EST
Out With the Tragedy: Turning Divorce into a meaningful experience
with Allison Pescosolido and Andra Brosh, founders of Divorce Detox
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