How does the Court decide if I or my spouse has to pay the other's lawyer fees?

Do I need an attorney to represent me?

1. How does the Court decide if I or my spouse has to pay the other's lawyer fees?

The most common reason a court would order you or your spouse to pay some (and sometimes though less frequently all) of the other’s lawyer fees is if there is a significant disparity between each of the incomes.  Orange County courts, like most courts, must look to each party’s need and ability to pay lawyer fees. 

There are exceptions to this rule including if one spouse has breached his or her fiduciary duty (typically through hiding community property money or assets or related conduct) to the other in which case the court could order the spouse that has committed this wrongful act to pay all of the other spouse’s lawyer fees.

Back to top

2. Do I need an attorney to represent me?

You wouldn’t perform surgery on yourself would you?  While there are a limited number of people that may not need an attorney because there are no children, no assets and no debts, most do not fall into that category.  Property, support and custody issues can be complicated and representing yourself dangerous especially if your spouse has a lawyer.  Many spouses every day sacrifice their legal rights when not represented by a lawyer and often times, the impact of those decisions (especially on property issues) can be unmodifiable.