How much does a lawyer cost in Guatemala? The only published figures with legal force are the fee schedule in Decreto 111-96 del Congreso, which sets a lawyer’s minimum fees by type of work: a verbal consultation Q30-Q100, a written one Q200-Q5,000, handling a matter of determinable value 15% up to Q100,000 and 5% on the excess. What lawyers charge today above that minimum is not published anywhere we found (none of the 47 addresses in the bar association’s (CANG) sitemap refers to a fee schedule): it is agreed case by case. This guide gives you the full schedule, re-read on 8 October 2026, the forensic stamp charged on top, and the published pay of employed lawyers.
Quick summary: The schedule (Decreto 111-96) sets as the legal minimum: verbal consultation Q30-Q100, written consultation Q200-Q5,000, initial complaint Q150-Q500, matter of undetermined value Q500-Q15,000, voluntary jurisdiction Q800 + 5%, and 15% up to Q100,000 at first instance. Plus a Q1 forensic stamp per page. Average pay of an employed lawyer: Q8,439 a month (Computrabajo). CANG publishes no market prices and we found no other source that does.
Correction (8 October 2026): this page gave market ranges by case type (consultation Q200-3,000, divorce Q3,000-60,000+, adoption, child support, custody, criminal Q5,000-300,000+, civil, commercial, labour, immigration, retainers Q2,000-15,000, hourly Q300-1,500). None of those figures had a published source and they have been withdrawn. See our corrections policy.
The Fee Schedule Is a Statute: Decreto 111-96
Guatemala’s lawyer fee schedule is not a bar association (CANG) document. It is an act of Congress. It is Decreto Número 111-96 del Congreso de la República, the Arancel de Abogados, Árbitros, Procuradores, Mandatarios Judiciales, Expertos, Interventores y Depositarios. Congress approved it on 13 November 1996, it was published in the Diario de Centro América on 16 December 1996 (Tomo CCLV, número 46), and it has been in force since 17 December 1996, the day after its publication in the official gazette (Art. 30).
The text published by the Organismo Judicial (read on 8 October 2026) carries no repeal or unconstitutionality note, and the only amendment it records is Decreto 45-97, which changed a certification charge levied by court clerks (Art. 27 c), not lawyers’ fees. In other words: every quetzal amount and every percentage governing an abogado’s fees is unchanged from 1996.
CANG, for its part: none of the 47 addresses in its sitemap refers to a fee schedule (checked 8 October 2026); not one contains arancel, honorario or tarifa.
A detail worth noting: the decreto’s own considerandos justify the 1996 overhaul by saying the previous law was more than 21 years old and out of step with reality. The schedule that replaced it has now stood for more than 29 years with none of the amounts governing lawyers’ fees revised.
What Article 1 actually says — and what every summary gets wrong
“Los abogados, árbitros, procuradores, mandatarios judiciales, expertos, interventores y depositarios, así como las personas que soliciten sus servicios profesionales son libres para contratar sobre honorarios y condiciones de pago, pero en ningún caso el monto que se pacte podrá ser menor de lo establecido en esta ley. A falta de convenio, los honorarios se regularán conforme a este arancel.”
That single sentence does three things:
- Freedom of contract. Fees and payment terms are negotiated between the professional and the client.
- A statutory minimum. In no case may the agreed amount be lower than what the law establishes. The arancel is a floor, not a ceiling: Art. 1 forbids agreeing to less than the statute, but sets no upper limit on what the parties may agree.
- It is supletorio. Absent an agreement, the schedule applies by default.
Limb two is the counterintuitive one. This is what the statute says as written; this guide makes no claim about how that minimum is applied in Guatemalan courts today.
Other rules in the same decreto worth knowing before you negotiate:
- Art. 3 — fees attach to the matter, “no en atención al número de abogados que intervienen en el mismo”.
- Art. 5 — the lawyer earns the fee “aún cuando de conformidad con la ley no fuere necesario su auxilio profesional” (even where counsel was not legally required).
- Art. 11 and Art. 19 — procuración is billed separately from dirección (“la procuración es ajena a la dirección, salvo que constare por escrito que no se ha hecho ese encargo”) and is worth half the dirección fee.
- Art. 16 — if the matter ends by settlement, excepción or incidente, “sea cual fuere el estado en que se encuentren”, the full fee is charged. Settling early does not shrink the bill.
- Art. 2 — the client who hired the lawyer and the party ordered to pay costas are joint and several debtors; the lawyer has direct action against either.
The amounts the statute sets (1996 quetzales, unchanged)
| Article | Item | Amount as written in the law |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 17 | Verbal consultation | Q30.00 – Q100.00 |
| Art. 17 | Written consultation | Q200.00 – Q5,000.00 |
| Art. 12 a) | Complaint or initial filing in any matter | Q150.00 – Q500.00, depending on its importance |
| Art. 12 b) | Filings on points of law or fact, interrogatories, offers of evidence | Q50.00 – Q100.00 |
| Art. 12 c) | Filings containing simple requests | Q20.00 |
| Art. 12 d) | Filing and answering casación, amparo or inconstitucionalidad | Q1,500.00 – Q5,000.00 |
| Art. 13 | Alegatos, written or oral | Q300.00 – Q500.00 |
| Art. 14 | Attending meetings, hearings, auctions or proceedings of any kind | Q100.00 – Q1,000.00 |
| Art. 15 | Work outside the office, within the town of residence | Q150.00 per hour (double outside that radius) |
| Art. 15 | Work outside the Republic | US$200.00 per day, plus travel and lodging costs |
| Art. 5 | Written pages in memoriales | Q5.00 per page or fraction |
| Art. 6 a) | Dirección at first instance (matter of determinable value) | 15% up to Q100,000.00 and 5% on the excess |
| Art. 6 b) | Small-claims matters (menor cuantía) | 15% of the total, never less than Q200.00 |
| Art. 6 c) | Second instance | additionally, half the first-instance fee |
| Art. 7 | Matter of undetermined value | Q500.00 – Q15,000.00, depending on the importance of the matter |
| Art. 8 | Enforcement actions (civil, banking, commercial, económico coactivo), first instance | 10% up to Q50,000.00 and 5% on the excess |
| Art. 8 | Small-claims enforcement | Q500.00 minimum, Q5,000.00 maximum |
| Art. 9 | Jurisdicción voluntaria (except probate) | Q800.00 base + 5% of the amount; if the amount cannot be determined, Q800.00 – Q5,000.00 |
| Art. 10 | Incidentes that do not end the proceeding | Q500.00 – Q1,500.00 |
| Art. 19 | Procuración | half the dirección fee |
| Art. 20 | Court-fixed mandatario judicial | half of what the procuración is worth |
Source: Decreto 111-96 del Congreso de la República, text published by the Organismo Judicial (jurisprudencia.oj.gob.gt), read on 8 October 2026.
These figures are not approximate: they are the exact amounts written into the statute, in 1996 quetzales, never revised.
Probate matters (Art. 6, inciso d). This subsection is genuinely garbled in the original — two rules run together with no punctuation separating them — so we reproduce it verbatim rather than tidying it into a reading the legislature did not write: “En los procesos sucesorios judiciales o extrajudiciales el 7% hasta cincuenta mil quetzales (Q. 50,000.00) y el 3% sobre el excedente hasta quinientos mil quetzales (Q.500,000.00), más el 1% sobre el excedente por la fase administrativa de la liquidación y pago de los impuestos que cause la mortual se cobrará el 30% de los honorarios correspondientes a la dirección del proceso sucesorio. Para el cálculo de los honorarios se tomará como base el activo.”
The timbre forense: Q1.00 per page, on top of the fee
The arancel is not the whole bill. Every complaint, petition or memorial that by law must be signed by a lawyer — and any other filing a lawyer signs in professional practice — carries a timbre forense of one quetzal (Q1.00) per page, under Article 3, numeral 1 of the Ley del Timbre Forense y Timbre Notarial, Decreto 82-96 del Congreso. It is mandatory and sits on top of the fee: a budget built from Decreto 111-96 alone comes up short.
⚠ Beware the Q0.05 figure circulating online, repeated by search engines and AI summaries. That amount was real but it has expired: it comes from Article 12, Transitorio, of Decreto 82-96, which applied only during the law’s first four months and was itself amended by Decreto 123-96. The forensic stamp is Q1.00 per page.
The timbre notarial is a different stamp with its own rates in numeral 2 of the same article: 2 per thousand on contracts of determinable value (minimum Q1.00, capped at Q300.00); Q10.00 on undetermined-value acts, protocolaciones, actas notariales and legalizations; Q25.00 on wills and gifts made in contemplation of death.
Lawyer’s arancel ≠ notary’s arancel
In Guatemala one person can be both abogado and notario, but the fees come from two different laws. The words escritura and notario appear nowhere in the 30 articles of Decreto 111-96. If what you need is a deed, a testimonio or an acta notarial, the price comes from Título XV of the Código de Notariado (Decreto 314); the table is in our notary fees guide.
The underlying difference matters: Art. 106 of the Código de Notariado says notary and client are free to agree on fees and payment terms, and that the schedule applies absent an agreement, and stops there. There is no statutory minimum in the notarial schedule. In the lawyers’ schedule there is (Art. 1). Same professional, two different regimes depending on which hat he is wearing.
And in the real market
We found no published list of what lawyers in Guatemala charge today: none of the 47 addresses in CANG’s sitemap refers to a fee schedule, and we found no firm that puts its rates online. What the law does tell you is the minimum: a lawyer may charge more than the schedule but may not agree to less (Art. 1). Always get the quote in writing, with the scope of the work.
What the Law Sets for an Uncontested Divorce
There is no published market price for a divorce. Three rules in the law shape the budget for a divorce by mutual consent:
- It goes before a judge, and needs a year of marriage. The Código Procesal Civil y Mercantil places it in voluntary jurisdiction, and its article 426 allows it only once more than a year has passed since the wedding.
- It takes two lawyers, not one. Article 428 requires each spouse to appear in person with a different lawyer, and bars the spouses from appointing the same person as their representative.
- The fee floor is the voluntary-jurisdiction one. In Decreto 111-96 that is Article 9 in the table above: Q800.00 base plus 5% of the amount, or Q800.00 to Q5,000.00 if the amount cannot be determined. Under Article 1, the fee agreed with each lawyer cannot be lower.
The forensic stamp of Q1.00 per page of each filing is added on top. Articles 426 and 428 read on 22 September 2026 in the consolidated text of the Código Procesal Civil y Mercantil (Decreto Ley 107).
Adoption
We give no market prices for adoption. The Consejo Nacional de Adopciones states on its own site that all of its services are free and that the help of lawyers, tramitadores or intermediaries is not necessary, and the US State Department says intercountry adoption between Guatemala and the United States is not currently possible. Our guide to whether Americans can adopt from Guatemala sets out both instruments, the routes that are still open, and the CNA’s own year-by-year completion table.
Child Support, Custody, Criminal, Civil, Commercial, Labour and Immigration Cases
We found no published market prices for any of these case types. What does apply to all of them is the schedule above: handling a matter of determinable value (Art. 6), of undetermined value (Art. 7), enforcement (Art. 8), voluntary jurisdiction (Art. 9) and filings (Art. 12), plus the forensic stamp.
Ways a Lawyer May Propose to Bill
- Flat fee: one closed amount for the whole matter.
- By stage or by filing: the way the schedule itself breaks it down (complaint, filings, hearings, alegatos).
- Percentage of the outcome: if agreed, put in writing the percentage, the amount it applies to, and who pays the case costs.
- Monthly retainer (iguala): a fixed monthly payment for consultations and minor matters; ask what is excluded.
Whatever the form, under Art. 1 of Decreto 111-96 the agreed fee cannot be lower than the schedule.
What a Lawyer Earns in Guatemala
| Job title | Average monthly pay | Published values | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyer (abogado/a) | Q8,439 | Q2,223 to Q14,000 | 44 salaries |
| Legal case handler (gestor jurídico) | Q3,836 | Q3,000 to Q5,000 | 33 salaries |
| Notary (notario/a) | No published data | — | Not enough data |
Source: Computrabajo Guatemala (data updated 7 October 2026), read on 8 October 2026.
A self-employed litigator draws no fixed salary; income depends on the cases they handle, and there is no published figure for that.
How to Choose a Lawyer
- Verify active CANG membership.
- Look for specialists if your case calls for it.
- Ask for references from past clients.
- Interview two or three lawyers before hiring for big cases.
- Sign a written contract covering scope, fees and billing method.
- Ask for an invoice for every payment.
Red Flags
- Promises of guaranteed outcomes.
- Will not sign a written contract.
- Will not walk you through the process or the costs ahead.
- Unexplained delays.
Sources
- Decreto 111-96 del Congreso de la República — Arancel de Abogados, Árbitros, Procuradores, Mandatarios Judiciales, Expertos, Interventores y Depositarios, published in the Diario de Centro América on 16 December 1996. Full text of all 30 articles in the Organismo Judicial repository, read on 8 October 2026
- Decreto 82-96 del Congreso — Ley del Timbre Forense y Timbre Notarial, Art. 3 (timbre forense Q1.00 per page; notarial stamp rates)
- Código de Notariado (Decreto 314), Título XV, Arts. 106-109 — notarial fee schedule, CENADOJ (Organismo Judicial) consolidated text, read on 8 October 2026
- Código Procesal Civil y Mercantil (Decreto Ley 107) — articles 426 and 428, read on 22 September 2026
- Colegio de Abogados y Notarios de Guatemala (CANG) — official sitemap, 47 addresses checked on 8 October 2026: none refers to a fee schedule or tariff
- Computrabajo Guatemala — lawyer Q8,439 a month across 44 salaries; gestor jurídico Q3,836 across 33; notary no data (updated 7 October 2026)
Related Guides
- Service Prices Hub — all services
- Notary Fees — deeds and notarial acts
- Hiring a lawyer in Guatemala from the USA — how to check a lawyer’s registration before you pay
- Business Formation — legal aspects of forming a company
The statutory schedule (Decreto 111-96) and the Código de Notariado were re-read at the Organismo Judicial on 8 October 2026; Computrabajo pay data updated 7 October 2026. Fees are agreed with each lawyer, never below the schedule. Always confirm the price in writing before hiring.