Lawyer fees for a mutual consent divorce in Ghaziabad: what a fixed-fee engagement covers

How the fee is set

One written figure for the whole engagement, quoted after the chamber has read the papers.

What it covers

Settlement drafting, the joint petition, both motions, the waiver application where it applies, and the decree.

Paid separately

The nominal court fee, notarisation and certified copies, and any pending case that has to be closed.

Where to ask

Chamber 817, District Court Complex, Raj Nagar District Centre (RDC), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201002. Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm.

The first question most people ask about a mutual consent divorce in Ghaziabad is what it costs. The honest answer is that it depends on the file, and the chamber quotes a single fee for the whole engagement only after reading it. What can be said in advance, and what this page sets out, is what that fee covers, what makes one case more work than another, and what is paid outside it. A client who knows this can compare quotes properly and can see when a cheap figure leaves most of the work out.

Why a fixed fee rather than per hearing

A Section 13B petition has a known shape: a settlement, a joint petition, a first motion, a second motion, a decree. Because the work is predictable, the chamber quotes one fee for all of it rather than charging by the hearing. The client knows the cost at the start, and the chamber has no reason to let the case drift. The only things that change the figure are the things that change the work, and those are listed below.

Where a case does not have that shape, because the spouses have not yet agreed on the terms or because a contested case is already running, the engagement is different and is quoted differently. The comparison of mutual and contested divorce explains why the two are not priced alike.

What the engagement covers

• The first meeting and the reading of the file. Marriage proof, the date of separation, pending cases, the children, the money. This is where the chamber decides whether a waiver is realistic and what the settlement must contain.
• The settlement. The memorandum of understanding that records permanent alimony and how it is paid, custody and visitation, return of stridhan and the articles of the marriage with a list, and the withdrawal of every case between the families. This is the document the whole petition rests on, and drafting it well is most of the work.
• The joint petition under Section 13B. With the affidavits of both spouses, the settlement annexed, and the list of documents. Filed at the Family Court, Ghaziabad.
• The first motion. Appearance with both spouses, their statements recorded before the judge, the reference to mediation.
• The waiver application under Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur, (2017) 8 SCC 746, where the facts support it. Drafting, affidavits and the hearing. See the cooling-off waiver article for when it applies.
• The second motion and the decree. Appearance, the second set of statements, the arguments, and obtaining the decree.
• The certified copy of the decree, which is the document a spouse needs for a passport change, a remarriage or a property record.

What makes a case more work

These are the things that move the figure, and the chamber names them at the first meeting rather than after the fee is agreed.

• Pending cases between the families. A case under Section 85 BNS (the old 498A IPC), a maintenance case under Section 144 BNSS, a domestic violence complaint, or a case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act for a cheque that passed between the families. Each has to be withdrawn, compromised or quashed, and the quashing of an FIR is a petition in the Allahabad High Court with its own fee.
• A spouse outside India. A Special Power of Attorney has to be drafted, attested at the embassy and stamped in India, and the Family Court has to be moved to record the statement by video. The NRI mutual divorce article explains the steps.
• A settlement that has not been reached. If the spouses agree in principle but not on the terms, the chamber's role becomes negotiation, which is time that the fixed fee for a settled petition does not include.
• Property that changes hands. Where the settlement transfers a flat or a plot, the transfer document is separate work and carries its own stamp duty and registration cost.
• Children. A custody and visitation schedule that both spouses will actually follow takes more drafting than a petition between a couple without children.

What is paid separately

Three kinds of expense fall outside the advocate fee, and the engagement letter says so.

• The court fee on the petition, which for a petition under the Hindu Marriage Act in Uttar Pradesh is a nominal fixed amount paid by stamp.
• Out-of-pocket costs: notarisation of the affidavits, the stamp on a power of attorney, certified copies, and the fee of the process server where notice has to go out.
• Any separate proceeding the settlement requires: the withdrawal of a pending case, a quashing petition at Allahabad, or a transfer of property.

How the chamber quotes

Bring, or send on WhatsApp, the marriage proof, a note of the date of separation, a list of every case pending between the families, and the terms the two of you have agreed, even if they are only in a message. The chamber reads them, tells you whether the case is a straightforward Section 13B petition or something more, says whether a waiver is realistic, and then sends one figure in writing with the milestones at which it is paid. The figure does not change afterwards unless the file changes in one of the ways listed above, and then the change is explained before the work is done.

Three things the chamber does not do: quote a fee before reading the papers, promise a date for the decree, or add charges that were not in the letter. A mutual consent divorce works when both spouses trust the process, and a clear fee is part of that.

Read next

• Mutual consent divorce or contested divorce: time, cost, evidence and outcome
• Documents for a Section 13B petition in Ghaziabad
• Cooling-off period waiver: the Amardeep Singh test

Questions people ask