Cost of Divorce in Cameroon. How much does divorce cost in Cameroon?
DIVORCE FEE IN CAMEROON
There are no fixed fees for divorce in Cameroon . Getting a divorce is an intensely personal and procedural process and as such varies from person to person and situation to situation .Therefore if you are reading this article in order to get a definite fee how much divorce would cost in Cameroon ,then unfortunately you would be disappointed as that is not what this article will provide .
Rather what we would attempt to do in this article is to identify what things you need factor in when trying to estimate how much your divorce will cost in Cameroon.
ESTIMATING THE COST OF A DIVORCE IN CAMEROON
Firstly you should know when getting a divorce in Cameroon there 2 sets of fees – Court Fee and Professional legal fees. Under Cameroonian law in order to get a divorce, you cannot sign an agreement for divorce .
The divorce in order to be a legal one it would have to be granted by a court via a court judgment.
In order to file in for a divorce there are certain statutory fees like the filing fee etc. that has to be paid it might vary from one high court to another but this fee is mandatory.
The second set of fees are the professional legal fee . Under Cameroonian law all divorces of statutory marriage need to be dissolved in court , and therefore both parties must be represented by qualified lawyers . The lawyers in representing you would have to draft certain documents , and then attend court hearings to ask for a divorce . The lawyers is generally at liberty to approximate the work that would go into representing you and then use that as a basis to quote a fee to you . The legal fee will largely depend on a number of factors as would be seen below-
REASON FOR THE DIVORCE
If the reason for the divorce is a contentious one , for example infidelity , the lawyer will have to provide more information to the court to back up , and it could be complicated . it is this complexity which the lawyer will factor in when making a decision as to their fees . The less contentious the reason for the divorce , the less complicated the court proceeding would be therefore the less expensive.
CHILDREN
Generally speaking , its less complex to file for a divorce where the couple do not have any children. Where children are involved the courts take extra care to ensure the rights of the children are paramount and there more steps are needed for the divorce. This adds to the complexity of the case and the lawyer uses this extra complexity as a basis to justify higher fees than if the couple had no children.
RELIEF SOUGHT
When a party files for divorce it is usual that they ask the court to grant certain reliefs for instance custody of children (if any), or if the spouse wants financial maintenance going forward , this can be included in the divorce petition . Things like financial maintenance are potentially contentious issues and a lot of evidence is often needed to prove such a case , this contentiousness adds to the complexity of the case , and then has an attendant effect on the cost of divorce .other reliefs which can be requested could be orders for the distribution of joint property and assets etc.
EXPERIENCE OF THE LAWYER
Lawyers as with other professionals get more experienced and knowledgeable based on how long they have been in practice for so if you were to hire a lawyer who has been practicing for 2 years and pay a certain fee , you cannot expect to pay a lawyer who has been practicing for 21 years the same amount for the same work .
Older and experienced lawyers are generally more expensive to hire than younger lawyers , There your divorce in Cameroon would cost more based on the experience of the lawyer involved.
So, those are some of the factors which come into play when estimating cost for divorce in Cameroon. For further details you can always reach out to our team for guides on divorce in Cameroon.
Article by CHUO ANGABUA JUNIOR
‘’The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. We insist specialist advice be sought depending on your specific circumstance’’
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