A Couple Agreed on Everything, Then Spent Six Months Fighting Over a Cup
The extra half year cost tens to hundreds of thousands in legal fees, a window into why divorce is so expensive.
Aparti · Startup Lessons & VC Insights with Jeff Becker/Antler and Igor Sheremet/ ApartiThe couple had already agreed on everything. The property, the papers, the terms for splitting a life in two. Then came a cup.
It was a cup, or some kind of china, according to the family lawyer who later told the story to Igor Sheremet, chief executive of Aparti, a startup building artificial intelligence tools for family law firms. The couple, the lawyer said, went crazy over it.
That one object stretched their divorce another six months. Sheremet said a half year of lawyer time like that can reach six figures, or possibly twenty or thirty thousand dollars, depending on the lawyer.
It sounds absurd until you see how divorce bills get built. Sheremet said he was shocked to learn how much people spend to get unmarried. Aparti keeps an internal leaderboard of client spending on lawyers, topped by a man who spent $5 million. Below him sit others who spent hundreds of thousands. Its own chief technology officer paid $300,000 to get divorced.
Much of that money goes to manual work. Clients and lawyers fill out the same stack of court documents together, Sheremet said, and lawyers can bill only partly for that time. The hours pile up while lawyers do administrative work instead of their main job.
Then emotion enters during asset division. Sheremet said feelings take over at that stage, giving as an example a spouse saying, "oh this is my favorite cup." He said some fights end with both former partners bankrupt.
Jeff Becker, a general partner at the venture firm Antler and Aparti's first investor, recalled a line he had heard from Sheremet's team, that the moment they decide to divorce is the happiest they have felt in a long time. He said the company wants to meet people at that turning point and help them finish faster with less financial damage.
He said a case should not last years only because couples lack clear help for working through the choices in front of them.
For this couple, there was no fast finish. For six more months, two people who agreed on everything paid lawyers to argue about a cup.
Questions people ask
Why would a fight over a cup cost tens of thousands of dollars?
Because divorce lawyers generally bill by the hour, and contested issues require letters, filings, negotiations, and court time. Even a small item can keep a case open for months, so the meter keeps running. A six-month extension can easily mean dozens of billed hours at several hundred dollars an hour per lawyer.
Do divorces really cost millions of dollars?
Most do not, but high-conflict cases with businesses, real estate, and prolonged litigation can reach six or seven figures. Costs rise with disagreement, expert valuations, motions, and trial preparation. The average divorce is far cheaper, often a few thousand to low tens of thousands when couples settle.
What is Aparti trying to do about this?
Aparti is building software for family law firms that automates intake and document preparation, including court-ready forms and asset-division work. The idea is to reduce administrative hours so lawyers spend more time advising clients. Faster, clearer paperwork could also shorten the emotional window where small disputes turn into long fights.