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Were you served with divorce papers? Or are you about to file? You're in the right place.

Divorce Costs and Timelines by State

Learn your state's filing fee, how to ask for a fee waiver, the waiting period and the earliest date your divorce can be final.

It's 100% free, with no sign-up and no cost to you.

Free tool

Divorce cost and timeline estimator

How to use this free tool

  1. Answer the 4 questions below, and add the filing date if you have it.
  2. Press "See the fee and the waiting period".
  3. Learn your filing fee, the fee waiver path your state records, and the earliest date your divorce can be final. Every line shows its source.
Do both spouses agree on the terms?
Minor children of the marriage?
Expect to ask for a fee waiver?

The day the petition was or will be filed. The waiting period is counted from it.

This form does not ask for your name, email or phone number. Your answers are worked out in your browser, and personal answers stay out of the page link.

Every page here comes from one researched table of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, so you can learn your state's petition filing fee, whether a fee waiver is recorded, the residency rule, the waiting period before a decree, the separation requirement, the property regime, the child-support model and the alimony rule. Each one shows the source it came from and the date it was checked.

Legal Cost by State is operated by LeadVera Media, a marketing company that is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. Nothing on this site is legal advice.

Tools

Tool

Divorce Cost Estimator: Filing Fee and Waiting Period

Choose your state and answer four questions, and the filing date if you have it, to learn your filing fee, fee waiver path, residency rule, waiting period and the earliest date it allows, each with its source.

See the fee and the waiting period

State charts

51-row chart

Divorce Fees, Waiting Periods and Rules by State

Learn your state's filing fee, fee waiver, residency rule, waiting period, separation rule, property regime, child support model and alimony rule, one row per state, each with its source.

See the state chart

Guides

Guide

Alimony Rules by State: Formula vs Discretionary

Learn which states calculate alimony with a formula and which leave it to the judge, how the Illinois and New Hampshire formulas work, and the duration limits states set.

Read the guide
Guide

Divorce Filing Fees and Fee Waivers by State

Learn the petition fee in your state with its source, which states set fees by county, what stacks on top, and the forms and affidavits that can waive the fee.

Read the guide
Guide

Child Support Rules by State: The Guideline Models

Learn the guideline model your state uses to set child support, how income shares, percentage of income, Melson and the hybrid work, and the federal rules every guideline follows.

Read the guide
Guide

Divorce Timeline: Waiting Periods by State

Learn the three clocks that set your minimum: residency before filing, the waiting period after, and separation where it is required. Plus what fills the time in a real case.

Read the guide
Guide

Divorce Cost: Filing Fees by State and Fee Waivers

Learn the court fee in your state, the fees that stack on top of it, how a waiver works, and the four things that decide what representation can cost you.

Read the guide
Guide

Uncontested Divorce: Cost, Steps and Timeline

If you and your spouse agree on everything, learn the court fee, the paperwork, the parenting class, the wait, and the self-help routes the courts themselves publish.

Read the guide