Household services analysis is billed at an hourly rate against a retainer established at the outset, with a written fee schedule and a cost estimate before work begins. The scope of the engagement, and so its cost, depends on the factors below.
How household services is billed
Household services valuation is billed at an hourly rate for records review, data collection, modeling, report preparation, and testimony. A retainer is established at the outset and applied against time incurred. The current rate schedule and retainer terms are provided on request and confirmed in a written engagement agreement.
What sets the scope
Household services engagements are scoped to whether the loss is total or partial, the number of service categories affected, and how much the household's pre-injury division of labor must be documented. A stand-alone valuation for a single household is the narrowest scope; a partial loss that must be apportioned by category, or a valuation that has to reconcile with a life care plan's attendant care hours, widens it. We provide a written fee schedule and a cost estimate before work begins.
What drives cost
Whether the loss is total, as in a death or a catastrophic injury, or partial and apportioned by category of work
Household composition and how it changes over the period of loss as children age or the household dissolves
Depth of documentation of the pre-injury division of household labor, from interviews, deposition testimony, or family records
Whether attendant care in a life care plan overlaps the household services claim and must be reconciled to avoid double counting
Local wage data required to price each replacement occupation in the household's region
Deposition and trial testimony, including preparation and travel time