Introduction
Divorce is the legal way to terminate marital obligations between two persons. In India the divorce can be in two forms- one obtained through mutual consent and other the contested divorce.
The factors that influence the fee structure in divorce cases are :-
- Decide the kind of divorce a client wants to file
The first thing to do is to understand the kind of divorce that a client wants to file.
In India, there are 2 types of divorce- mutual consent divorce and contested divorce.
Divorce by mutual consent is a legal process of separation after marriage, when both the parties (husband and wife) wants to separate with their own will and terminate the discharge of marital obligations towards each other.
The contested divorce is the type in which the spouses cannot arrive at an agreement on one or more key issues in order to conclusively terminate their marriage. This type of divorce usually happens because of fault of either one or both of the spouses.
The mutual consent divorce cases are generally a straight jacket formula but in contested divorce the fee structure depends on the complexity of issue involved, the ground on which the case is filed, evidence available to prove the case.
- The probability of other cases filed in addition with divorce
In mutual consent divorce, there are chances of only one proceeding but in contested divorce there are chances that a divorce case will also attract other legal proceedings such as maintenance suit, case for child custody, either a domestic violence complaint or an FIR under 498 A and allied provisions of IPC.
Hence, the lawyer while counselling the client carefully examines the outcome of the advice to opt for a kind of divorce and ponders the likelihood of future cases that can be filed against his client and then moves forward.
It is advisable that a lawyer who has sound knowledge of a divorce proceeding must handle the other cases also as the matrimonial litigation is based on trust and thrives on fiduciary relationship between a lawyer and client which is hard to establish with a every lawyer.
Hence, the fee is moderated by the lawyers depending upon the inflow of litigation as explained above.
