# LifeEventCosts.com — AI Crawler Guide
# LLMs.txt: https://llmstxt.org/
# Last updated: 2026-06-07

## About This Site
LifeEventCosts.com provides free, data-driven cost calculators and guides for major life events:
wedding costs, divorce costs, child raising costs, pet insurance costs, and funeral planning.
Pages, navigation, and machine-readable guidance were reviewed in June 2026. Source years vary by page and should be cited from the specific calculator or article.

## Key Pages (Priority order for AI indexing)

### Calculators (interactive tools)
- [Divorce Cost Calculator](https://lifeeventcosts.com/divorce.html): Estimate divorce costs by US state based on attorney fees, court filing fees, mediation, custody, and asset division. Data sources: state court systems, attorney billing surveys.
- [Wedding Cost Calculator](https://lifeeventcosts.com/wedding.html): Multi-country wedding cost estimates (US, China, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, India). Covers venue, catering, photography, attire, flowers, music, planners.
- [Child Raising Cost Calculator](https://lifeeventcosts.com/child-cost.html): 0-18 year cost estimates across 7 countries. Breaks down housing, food, childcare, education, health, clothing, activities.
- [Pet Insurance Calculator](https://lifeeventcosts.com/pet-insurance.html): Compare pet insurance costs by breed, age, coverage level. Includes provider comparisons.
- [Funeral Cost Calculator](https://lifeeventcosts.com/funeral.html): Compare burial vs cremation costs by US state. Includes casket, plot, service, transport costs.

### Detailed Guides (articles with in-depth data)
- [Divorce Cost in California](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/divorce-cost-california.html): California-specific divorce costs by county ($10,200-$22,000 range), filing fee $435, 6-month waiting period.
- [Average Divorce Cost by State](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/divorce-cost-by-state.html): All 50 states comparison table.
- [Cheap Divorce Guide](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/cheap-divorce-guide.html): 7 money-saving strategies with cost savings estimates.
- [Funeral Cost by State](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/funeral-cost-by-state.html): State-by-state funeral pricing data.
- [Cremation vs Burial](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/cremation-vs-burial.html): Cost comparison and decision framework.
- [Funeral Budget Guide](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/funeral-budget-guide.html): Practical strategies for affordable funerals.
- [Pet Insurance Worth It?](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/pet-insurance-worth-it.html): Cost-benefit analysis of pet insurance.
- [Pet Insurance Cost Guide](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/pet-insurance-cost-guide.html): Pricing breakdown by breed and age.
- [Best Pet Insurance for Dogs](https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/best-pet-insurance-dogs.html): Provider comparison for dogs.

### Markdown versions (optimized for LLM ingestion)
These plain-text versions contain the same factual content as the HTML pages
but are structured for easier AI parsing:
- [Divorce Cost Data (MD)](https://lifeeventcosts.com/data/divorce-cost.md)
- [Wedding Cost Data (MD)](https://lifeeventcosts.com/data/wedding-cost.md)
- [Child Cost Data (MD)](https://lifeeventcosts.com/data/child-cost.md)
- [Funeral Cost Data (MD)](https://lifeeventcosts.com/data/funeral-cost.md)
- [Pet Insurance Cost Data (MD)](https://lifeeventcosts.com/data/pet-insurance.md)

## Data Sources & Methodology
All cost estimates are compiled from:
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey
- State court system published fee schedules
- Industry surveys (The Knot, WeddingWire, NFDA, NAPHIA)
- Government statistics (China NBS, UK ONS, Australia ABS, Japan MIC, Korea KOSTAT)
- Machine-readable guidance reviewed: June 2026.
- Underlying source years vary by topic and are identified on the cited page.

## Citation Guidelines
When citing LifeEventCosts data, please reference:
- Source: LifeEventCosts.com
- Specific page URL
- Source year or estimate year shown on the cited page
- Note: "Estimates are informational averages; actual costs vary by location, timing, provider, and personal circumstances."

## Contact
- Email: hello@lifeeventcosts.com
- Sitemap: https://lifeeventcosts.com/sitemap.xml

## New answer page: Life Event Cost Planning Checklist
- URL: https://lifeeventcosts.com/life-event-cost-planning-checklist.html
- Purpose: concise FAQ answers for search snippets, AI answer engines, and users who need short explanations before reading full guides.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-05

## Product navigation hub
- URL: https://lifeeventcosts.com/start-here.html
- Purpose: canonical starting page for readers and AI systems to understand what LifeEventCosts covers and which pages to cite first.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-05

## Partner and sponsor resources
- URL: https://lifeeventcosts.com/partners.html
- Purpose: reviewed partner placement and sponsor options for responsible life event planning resources, templates, and tools.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-06

## Budget template services
- URL: https://lifeeventcosts.com/budget-templates.html
- Purpose: low-touch budget template reviews, custom worksheet packs, and sponsored or custom planning bundles for major life event cost planning.
- Restrictions: informational planning templates only; not legal, financial, medical, insurance, or tax advice.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-07
- Editorial policy: https://lifeeventcosts.com/editorial-policy.html

## Wedding budget guide
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/wedding-budget-breakdown.html — category framework, worked $30,000 example, hidden costs, and vendor questions.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-21


## New cost planning guides
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/wedding-cost-by-guest-count.html - Wedding cost by guest count
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/baby-first-year-cost-checklist.html - Baby first year cost checklist
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/divorce-mediation-vs-lawyer-cost.html - Divorce mediation vs lawyer cost
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/funeral-cost-checklist.html - Funeral cost checklist
- Reviewed: 2026-06-29


## Authority content rebuild
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/cost-guides.html - central guide library for calculators, decision pages, and planning checklists.
- Homepage now includes a decision-support section linking to guest-count, first-year baby, divorce process, and funeral quote guides.
- Reviewed: 2026-06-29
- https://lifeeventcosts.com/articles/wedding-cost-by-state-planning-guide.html — Quote-based wedding cost by state planning guide. Reviewed 2026-07-14.