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Divorce Filing Fees by State, and How to Ask for a Fee Waiver

Choose your state in the free tool below for its petition fee and the waiver route it records, or scroll to the 51-row table. The steps under the table show you how to ask for a fee waiver and what it does not cover.

Quick answer

Your petition fee can run as high as $450 in California, and the lowest confirmed fee is $80 (District of Columbia); all 51 jurisdictions have a figure in the table. 38 jurisdictions record a fee-waiver route in the dataset, usually a form, affidavit or motion filed with the petition. The table below shows the fee, the waiver note and the source for each row, checked on October 14, 2026.

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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.

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By the Legal Cost by State Editorial TeamLast updated and source-checked October 14, 2026

What to do next

Three things you can do before you pay the fee.

  1. 1

    Find your state's row and open the source link beside the fee

    Where the fee is set by county, your row shows the range the source gave, and the clerk's own page has the current figure for your county.

  2. 2

    Ask for the fee waiver form before paying

    The clerk's office or the self-help center can give it to you, and you file it with or before the petition; the fee rules read for this guide do not refund a fee once paid.

  3. 3

    Bring the financial statement the form asks for

    You list your income, household size, benefits and expenses, under oath. Maryland and New Jersey run income-based tests, and the form itself states the thresholds this dataset does not record.

What the filing fee covers, and what it does not

The petition or complaint fee opens the case and pays the court’s costs; in several states it bundles earmarked surcharges: Wyoming’s $160 includes $40 for court automation and $10 for indigent civil legal services (Wyo. Stat. 5-3-206); Kansas’s $195 is a $173 docket fee plus a $22 surcharge (K.S.A. 60-2001); Arizona’s $261 is a $176 base plus surcharges.

It does not cover what you pay to serve the papers, certified copies of the decree, a parenting class, the other spouse’s response fee, or the separate orders some cases need, such as an order dividing a retirement account. Delaware’s Family Court schedule adds fees for ancillary matters (property, alimony, custody) on top of its $165 petition fee and $10 security fee.

See your state's rules

Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.

Learn which states set one statewide fee and which let each county set it, often under a cap.

Divorce filing fees and fee waivers in every state

Updated October 14, 2026. Refresh: court fee schedules often change on July 1.

Petition filing fee as the source states it, and whether a fee waiver path was recorded, for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The source column links the fee schedule where a fee is published, otherwise the state’s divorce statute or court page.

StateFiling feeFee waiverSource
Alabama$200 to $340Not publishedescambia.alacourt.gov
Alaska$250Yes (form TF-920)courts.alaska.gov
Arizona$261Yes (fee waiver and deferral link on the fee page)azcourts.gov
Arkansas$165Not publishedmedia.ark.org
California$435 to $450Yesselfhelp.courts.ca.gov
Colorado$260Yes (JDF 205 motion to file without payment)coloradojudicial.gov
Connecticut$360Yes (form JD-FM-75)jud.ct.gov
Delaware$165Yes (financial affidavit, Form 257P)courts.delaware.gov
District of Columbia$80Yes (D.C. Code 15-712)dccourts.gov
Florida$408 to $409Yes (indigency application; Duval still charges a $12 administrative fee)duvalclerk.com
Georgia$215Yes (poverty affidavit)fultonclerk.org
Hawaii$215 to $265Yes (request through Family Court Service Centers)courts.state.hi.us
Idaho$207Yes (fee waiver motion accepted by the clerk per Court Assistance Office instructions)courtselfhelp.idaho.gov
IllinoisUp to $321 (up to $371 in Cook County)Yes (indigent person may proceed without fees; 735 ILCS 5/5-105)ilga.gov
Indiana$177 to $205Yes (may be waived by the judge if indigence is proven, per Washington County court page)in.gov
Iowa$285Not publishediowacourts.gov
Kansas$195Yes (poverty affidavit)self-help.kscourts.gov
Kentucky$148 to $153 (court check pending)Yes (motion for waiver of costs and fees)findlaw.com
Louisiana$150 to $250 (court check pending)Not publishedfindlaw.com
Maine$120Not publishedcourts.maine.gov
Maryland$165Yes (income-based waiver, Maryland Courts)mdcourts.gov
Massachusetts$215Yes (affidavit of indigency; M.G.L. c. 261 s. 27C)malegislature.gov
Michigan$150 (plus $80 with minor children)Not publishedlegislature.mi.gov
Minnesota$340Yes (in forma pauperis affidavit; Minn. Stat. 563.01)revisor.mn.gov
Mississippi$148 to $158 (court check pending)Not publishedrankincounty.org
Missouri$133.50 to $233.50 (court check pending)Yes (court may let a poor person sue without costs; Mo. Rev. Stat. 514.040)findlaw.com
Montana$170Yes (affidavit and financial statement; MCA 25-10-404)mca.legmt.gov
Nebraska$200Yes (in forma pauperis application; Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-2301.01; court self-help page)supremecourt.nebraska.gov
Nevada$284 (court check pending)Yes (application to proceed as an indigent litigant; NRS 12.015)washoecourts.com
New Hampshire$280 to $282Yes (ask the court to pay a lower fee or file for free; RSA 499:18-b)courts.nh.gov
New Jersey$300Yes (low income)njcourts.gov
New Mexico$137 (court check pending)Yes (ask the clerk about a full or partial waiver)findlaw.com
New York$335Yes (motion to proceed as a poor person; CPLR 1101)nysenate.gov
North Carolina$225Yes (sue as an indigent on affidavit; N.C.G.S. 1-110)ncleg.gov
North Dakota$160Not publishedndlegis.gov
Ohio$350 (court check pending)Not publishedfindlaw.com
Oklahoma$183Yes (affidavit in forma pauperis; 28 O.S. 152(H))oscn.net
Oregon$301Yes (judge may waive or defer fees; ORS 21.682)oregonlegislature.gov
Pennsylvania$201.75 (court check pending)Yes (in forma pauperis; Pa.R.C.P. 240)findlaw.com
Rhode Island$120 to $145Not publishedwebserver.rilegislature.gov
South Carolina$150Not publishedscstatehouse.gov
South Dakota$95 (court check pending)Yes (form UJS-022 motion to waive filing and service fees)findlaw.com
Tennessee$234.50 to $309.50Not publishedcircuitclerk.nashville.gov
Texas$350 to $365Yes (Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs)hcdistrictclerk.com
Utah$350Yes (ask the judge to waive fees)utcourts.gov
Vermont$90 to $295Yes (part or all of the fee may be waived; 32 V.S.A. 1431(h), V.R.C.P. 3.1)legislature.vermont.gov
Virginia$68 to $87 (court check pending)Yes (court may allow a person unable to pay because of poverty to sue without paying fees or costs; Va. Code 17.1-606)law.lis.virginia.gov
Washington$290 to $310 (court check pending)Yes (waiver for indigent status; GR 34)app.leg.wa.gov
West Virginia$135Yes (affidavit of inability to pay; W. Va. Code 59-2-1)code.wvlegislature.gov
Wisconsin$184.50 ($273 from November 1, 2026)Yes (court order on a finding of poverty; Wis. Stat. 814.29)docs.legis.wisconsin.gov
Wyoming$160Not publishedwyoleg.gov

All 51 fees have a figure. "Court check pending" marks the 11 not yet confirmed on a current court schedule. A blank waiver means no path was recorded, not that the state has none.

Learn what can stack on your petition fee: the response, children, service and county add-ons.

Learn how you ask for a waiver in five steps: the form, the statement, filing, the decision, the limits.

Learn who sets the income test and what a blank waiver cell in the table means.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tap a question to see the answer.

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Sources & review

Information on this page reflects laws and published figures as of October 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice, and not a prediction for any matter. Rules and fees change; check the court or agency page linked for each figure.

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