—Fees
Published, because you should not have to ask.
This is the whole schedule. Where a matter genuinely cannot be quoted as one figure we say so and quote it per stage, which is not the same thing as refusing to tell you.
01Before you instruct us
The first meeting exists so that you can decide. A good many people take the advice and go no further.
- First consultation, 45 minutes
- R950
- In person or online. Credited against your first invoice if you instruct us within thirty days.
- A first telephone call
- No charge
- Ten minutes with an attorney to establish whether you need one at all.
- Written opinion on where you stand
- From R3,500
- Where you want something to read, keep, and think about before deciding anything.
02Divorce
Quoted per stage, in writing, before that stage begins.
- Uncontested, no children, everything agreed
- From R12,500
- Six to ten weeks. Includes the settlement agreement and the unopposed appearance.
- Uncontested, with children
- From R18,000
- Eight to fourteen weeks. Includes the parenting plan and the Family Advocate.
- Bringing or defending a Rule 43 application
- From R22,000
- Interim maintenance and interim care while the divorce runs.
- Contested divorce
- Quoted per stage
- Nobody can quote a contested divorce as one number. We quote pleadings, then discovery, then trial preparation, each before it starts.
03Children
- Parenting plan, drafted and registered
- From R9,500
- Where the two of you broadly agree and need it written properly.
- Care and contact application
- From R26,000
- Opposed applications are quoted per stage.
- Relocation application
- From R45,000
- Fact-heavy, usually needing an expert report. Quoted after the first meeting.
04Maintenance
- Maintenance variation application
- From R14,000
- Increasing, reducing, or bringing an old order up to date.
- Enforcement of an existing order
- From R8,500
- Emoluments attachment, attachment of a debt, or a warrant.
- Appearing with you at a maintenance enquiry
- R6,500 per day
- You may appear without an attorney. Sometimes that is the right call and we will say so.
05Mediation
Mediation fees are usually shared between the parents.
- Mediation, per session of two hours
- R3,200
- Shared, so R1,600 each where you agree to split it.
- Full mediation to a signed parenting plan
- R12,000 – R25,000
- Typically four to eight sessions, including the drafting.
06Not included above
The costs that are not ours.
Disbursements are money we pay out on your behalf. They are passed on at what they cost us, with the receipt, and we tell you before we incur them.
- Sheriff, to serve a summons
- R400 – R1,200, depending on distance
- High Court issuing fees
- Set by the court, currently under R200
- Advocate, where one is briefed
- Quoted separately before we brief
- Expert reports, where needed
- R15,000 upward, agreed with you first
- Tracing an absent party
- From R1,500
07How we bill
Quoted per stage
Before a stage begins you get a figure for that stage. You approve it or you do not, and nothing starts until you do.
No invoice you did not agree to
If the work turns out to need more than the stage was quoted at, we come back to you before doing it rather than afterwards on the account.
The trust account is yours
Money you pay in advance sits in our trust account and remains yours until it is invoiced. Ask for a statement of it whenever you like.