If I’m getting divorce because my spouse cheated, can I make him/her pay my attorney fees?

Short Answer:  Maybe, but not because of the cheating.

Explanation:  This is really two questions; not one. 

The first questions is essentially, “if my spouse cheated, will the court take that into consideration for any reason whatsoever?”  The answer is no.  Colorado is a no-fault divorce state, which means the court is prohibited from taking into consideration any fault on behalf of one of the spouses in deciding issues like attorney fees, property division and alimony. 

The second question is essentially, “can I get the court to order my soon-to-be-ex (“STBE”) pay my attorney fees?”  The answer is maybe.  In a divorce, you can ask the court to consider the financial resources of you and your STBE, and order your STBE pay a reasonable amount of your attorney fees if there is a disparity in your two incomes.  The purpose of an award of attorney fees is to equalize the parties’ financial positions.  For example, if your STBE earns $100,000.00 per year and you are a stay-at-home-parent earning little to no income, the court may order your ex to pay your attorney fees.  Keep in mind, the court will only order this typically at the end of your case, so you need to cover the costs up front and hope the court awards you attorney fees in the end. 

Additionally, just because there may be a large disparity in your two incomes, the court will not necessarily order attorney fees to be paid.  Judges may decline to do so for any number of reasons.  For example, the judge may believe you are responsible for dragging the divorce out, and therefore should not be rewarded with attorney fees.  Whether or not this is true is irrelevant.  The awarding of attorney fees is completely up to your judge’s discretion.  If the judge believes it is fair that each party pay their own attorney fees, that is the ruling and you’re outta luck.  Bottom line:  Don’t go through your divorce assuming you will get attorney fees in the end.  Like the rest of your divorce case, there is no guarantee.

To find out whether you might qualify for an award of attorney fees, contact Alisha Taibo through www.taibolaw.com or at (303) 653-2509.