And I Thought My Divorce was Expensive.....

I spent $40,000 in legal fees for my divorce, but that seems like a bargain compared to what Britney Spears will have to shell out in attorney fees.

It is estimated her legal bill will be close to $700,000 for her divorce and custody fight with ex-husband Kevin Federline.

The majority of that bill comes from her former lawyer, Stacy D. Phillips, who claimed in court filings that she is owed nearly $407,000 for four months of work. She also claims she has written off an additional $125,000 in fees.

A half a million dollars in four months? It is hard to believe a lawyer can justified charging a client that much money for such a short time period. Kevin Federline's lawyers charged $250,000 for representation but worked well over a year on the case. Laura Wasser, the attorney who helped the couple finally reach a settlement, charge $60,000 for 2 months of work.

The moral of the story here for us normal, non-celebrities, is that divorce lawyers sometimes do jack up fees and prolong cases when a couple has assets and money. I am sure Ms. Phillips wouldn't have billed a "normal" client a half a million dollars for the same amount of work as she billed Ms.Spears.

The other lesson to take from this seemingly unimportant story about Britney Spears is something I have said over and over again. The biggest winners in your divorce will be not be you or ex, it will be the lawyers if you choose to litigate your divorce in family court. It is is possible to reach a divorce settlement without fighting, animosity and outrageous legal fees. That of course requires that both you and your ex cooperate and consider the use a mediator. If this is not a possibility, protect yourself from soaring legal fees by keeping close tabs on what your attorney is charging you and encourage he or she to try and reach a settlement with your ex's attorney as soon as possible instead of duking it out in court.

Celebrity Divorces In the News This Week....

This was a busy week for divorcing celebrities. Here is a run down:

Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook: Their divorce trial is set to begin next week. Meanwhile, Christie has subpoenaed the 19 year old girl her ex-husband had an affair with to testify in court.

Kimora Lee Simmons and Russell Simmons: Looks like this is an amicable divorce, with Russell agreeing to pay $40,000 a month in child support.

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline: Britney gets overnight visits with the boys but they are still unable to settle custody issues in mediation. Trial is set for later this summer

Hulk and Linda Hogan: Hulk confesses he still loves Linda even though they are getting divorced. Linda is still dating the 19 year old friend of her daughter, Brooke. Brooke is no longer speaking to her mom.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie: Rumored to be getting a divorce. Madonna supposedly met with Paul McCartney's pitbull of a divorce attorney. Amazingly, rumors are that there is no pre-nup and Guy could get half of Madonna's 600 million fortune.

Postnuptial Agreements Becoming Popular....

So what is a post nuptial agreement? We are all familiar with prenupitial agreements, but a postnup? A post-nuptial agreement is is a contract that is signed after marriage that divides a family’s assets between spouses. It seems that these agreements are on the rise. A poll published this year by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found that almost half its members had seen an increase in the practice.

Why would anyone want to sign one of these? The reasons may surprise you. Here is one scenario. A couple gets a postnup when their marriage is in trouble. If a spouse has committed adultery, he offers the postnup as a way to ensure his wife will be financially protected should they divorce, thus increasingly the likelihood of her forgiveness. Another reason is when a spouse gets a major promotion and now wants to renegotiate the terms of a prenuptial agreement. A more unusual reason is that hedge funds and other high-value equity partnerships encourage new partners to get postnups. They don't want a divorcing partner's spouse to get part ownership in the firm.

Although a prenuptial agreement can be very beneficial if a couple decides to divorce, no high cost attorney fees or battling for assets, a post-nuptial agreement sounds ridiculous to me. Can you imagine being married for years, supporting your spouse's career ,and then he comes home one day after getting a promotion at work and asks you to sign a postnup limiting how much money you will receive in a potential divorce? Even worse is your husband having an affair and then offering you assets in exchange for forgiveness.

Can you imagine how many couples will end up getting a divorce because one of them demanded that their spouse sign a postnupitial agreement? I think post-nuptial agreements are just another clever new tool divorce lawyers have in their arsenal to make money off of married couples.

Top Three Benefits Of Divorce...

Although divorce is an emotional and life changing experience, there is a bright side too. There really are benefits to being single once again. You may have been married for so long that you forgot them. Here are the top three benefits to getting a divorce:

1. No more in-laws. For many, no longer having to deal with a nosy,
intruding mother in law is cause for celebration.

2. Freedom. You can do whatever you want to, without having to consult another person. Did your ex get upset when you bought too many clothes or spent too much time on the computer or phone? You now get to call your own shots, set your own schedule and do as you please.

3. Peace. Did your ex snore? Leave the toilet seat up? Leave his dirty clothes all over the floor? You don't have to deal with your ex's annoying habits anymore. You will no longer have to put up with the things your ex did that drove your crazy.

Get A Divorce Online

You knew it had to happen eventually. We are able to shop online, find a date, book a trip and now we can even file for divorce! That is of course, if you live in Broward County Florida .

With a few clicks of a mouse and for an extra $20 online filing fee, in addition to the regular $364 fee, you can be on your way to being single once again. It does feel impersonal to get a divorce this way, though. I can just imagine a spouse sending an email informing their partner that they have just filed for divorce online. Reminds me of how Britney Spears supposedly text messaged K-Fed with the news she was divorcing him.

Although filing for divorce online may sound convenient, I would not recommend it for couples with children and any assets. You need to consult with a divorce lawyer in those cases. Representing yourself in your own divorce proceedings is never a good idea, so unless you have been married for a very short amount of time, have no children and no assets, I would not suggest taking advantage of filing for divorce online.

How To Get Your Ex To Pay Your Divorce Legal Fees

Britney Spears was ordered to pay her ex-husband, Kevin Federline's legal fees stemming from their nasty divorce and custody battle. She has been ordered, by the court, to pay $120,000 of the $160,000 attorney fees racked up by her ex.

So how did K-Fed get the court to order Britney to foot the bill? Most of their recent court activity has been directly related to Ms.Spears bad behavior and concerns over the welfare of the children. Also, Britney was the primary breadwinner during their marriage and earns substantially more than her ex-husband.

If you are currently in a divorce battle and the attorney fees are adding up, here are some things you should consider:

Does your soon to be ex earn more money than you? Were you a stay at home mom during your marriage? If so, you should ask your attorney to file a motion asking the court to order your ex to pay your legal fees.

Are your legal fees adding up because your ex is not paying child or spousal support? Again, this is a valid reason to ask for attorney fees to be paid by your ex. After all the reason you are in court is because of his violations and disregard for the court system. You should not have to pay your lawyer thousands of dollars to enforce a support order.

Finally, keep in mind that your own attorney may not volunteer the fact that she or he can file a motion and ask for legal fees to be paid by your ex. Some attorneys rather have you pay their fees for fear that your ex may stiff them on the bill. It is up to you to approach this subject with your lawyer and specifically ask them to ask the court to order your ex to pay your attorney fees incurred during the divorce.

5 Things You Need To Put In Your Divorce Settlement

When it is time to finally settle your divorce and the papers are drawn up by the lawyers, it is easy to miss some of the less obvious things you need to include in the settlement. Major issues, like custody, alimony and child support are covered, but some of the things you may not be thinking about today, but will affect your financial future, are often overlooked.

Here are 5 things you need to consider putting in your divorce settlement:

1. Credit card debt. The division of credit card debt is usually outlined in the final divorce order, but you must make sure that credit card account numbers are also included. It is not enough to say that your ex will pay the american axpress card balance. You need to list the account numbers so that if the credit card company comes after you for payment you can mail them a copy of your divorce order that clearly states whose responsibility the debt is.

2. Car Insurance. If you have children , you may not know that when they reach the age to get their driver's license, most insurance companies will automatically increase your premium. If you are the custodial parent, you need to add a provision in your settlement that when the children get their licenses and your car insurance goes up, you ex will pay 50% of the extra costs. I learned this the hard way, I did not have this in my divorce order and when my daughter got her license, my insurance payments jumped up almost a $1,000 a year, even though she was not driving my car. The insurance company only assesses this fee if the child lives with you, so the non-custodial parent is off the hook. It is only fair that they help out with this extra cost too, so put it in your settlement now.

3. Birthday parties, Christmas presents, clothes, camp and other non-essentials not cover by child support. Be sure to decide now if you are going to split these or if the child support is enough to cover these expenses.

4. Braces. You may think that this would be covered under medical expenses, but it is not. Braces are considered "cosmetic", so if you have kids, make sure to work this out before signing the final divorce papers.

5. College. Again, many parents automatically assume that both parents have to split college costs for the kids. Not true. Most courts consider college an elective and will not force a parent to pay for tuition. Work this out with your ex ahead of time and save yourself grief and money down the road.

Need An Emergency Court Date? Only If Your Britney Spears

Britney Spears was granted an emergency hearing today in Los Angeles to ask the court to allow her overnight visitation with her two young sons, despite the fact that her next court date was not scheduled until late October.

How was Ms. Spears able to get a court date on such notice? Her emergency was that she simply wanted more time with her children. Her kids were not in any danger. In the real world for us average people, it can take up to 3 weeks to be granted an emergency court hearing.

During my own divorce, my ex refused to pay child and spousal support leaving me with all of the household bills and very little money. The mortgage was 2 months overdue and the utilities were about to be shut off so I asked my divorce attorney to request a court date. I was told that the courts were overcrowded and that "emergency" requests were rarely granted. I waited three more weeks for my court date, only to sit in court for eight hours and have the court date rescheduled at the end of the day! Of course my attorney billed me for those hours in court.

This is the sad reality for many people dealing with the family court system. Most family courts in our country are overcrowded . It is typical in divorce and child custody cases to be in court all day long. Often your court dates are adjourned and it can take months or even years before your case is settled.

But this is not the case for Britney Spears. She was able to arrive to court five hours late and still be heard by the judge. I wonder how many "normal" people in L.A .had their court dates cancelled today to accommodate Ms.Spears? Of course, it is not Britney Spear's fault that the Los Angeles court system bends over backwards for celebrities. It is just unfair.

Can Your Divorce Lawyer Fire You?

According to www.people.com "Laura Wasser, Britney Spears' divorce attorney has stepped down as her attorney in the custody battle with

Kevin Federline. Wasser said Spears would be in "excellent hands" with her replacement and added, "I don't want anyone to perceive that we're dumping Britney."

In essence, Ms. Wasser has fired her own client. Can this happen to you

in the middle of your own divorce or custody battle? Yes. An attorney can petition the court to be removed from a client's case. If this happens to you, you can ask the court to grant you 30 days to find a new attorney. You can also fire your divorce attorney and seek new representation, although if you try to switch lawyers too far into the case, a judge may deny your request if there are upcoming court dates already scheduled on the family court calender.

Why would a lawyer want to fire their own client? In the case of Britney Spears, it is most likely her inability to take advice from her own legal counsel, therefore jeopardizing her own chances to retain joint custody of her two young sons. .In most cases, conflict of interest, personal or health problems or a lack of communication with the client can all be factors in a lawyer's decision to remove himself from a case.