Were you served? Or are you deciding whether to file? Learn what a divorce can cost.
How Much Does a Divorce Cost? Court Fees by State and What Moves the Rest
Choose your state in the free tool below to see its court filing fee and whether it records a fee waiver. The rest of this page helps you learn the fees that stack on top and what moves a lawyer's bill.
Quick answer
Your court's petition filing fee can run as high as $450 in California; the lowest confirmed fee is $80 (District of Columbia), and 11 of 51 published fees await a court check. Service of process, a parenting class and the other spouse's response fee can add tens to a few hundred dollars on top. A lawyer's bill is the larger part, and nothing fixes it: this dataset records no attorney fee for any state, so this guide explains what moves it instead of quoting a number. Court figures were checked on October 14, 2026 against each state's fee schedule or statute.
Free tool
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.
By the Legal Cost by State Editorial Team·Last updated and source-checked October 14, 2026
What to do next
Three things you can do before you pay anyone.
1
If you were served, find the deadline on the summons
Your summons names the reply you file, a response or an answer, and the time you have for it; the clerk of the court named on it can confirm the date.
2
Find the fee for your county, not just your state
Choose your state in the free tool above for the petition fee and its source; where the fee is set by county, the source link opens the clerk's own page with the current figure.
3
Ask for the fee waiver form before you pay
If the fee is out of reach, ask the clerk's office or the court's self-help center for the fee waiver form. You file it with the petition, and the section below names the forms the dataset records.
Which costs are fixed, and which are not
Court costs: fixed and public
Set by statute or by the state judiciary, and the same for you as for everyone filing there. The petition fee, the response fee, certified copies of the decree and any parenting-class surcharge sit here.
Representation: variable and private
What a lawyer charges depends on whether the case is contested, the children, what there is to divide, and how much of the case you hand over. No statute sets it, no court publishes it, and this site does not estimate it.
Learn more. Tap a topic to open it.
Learn the petition fee in states at the low end, the middle and the high end, each with its statute.
Across the 51 jurisdictions that publish one, the 40 confirmed fees can run from $80 to $450; the other 11, Virginia's $68 among them, await a court check and are marked in the state tables. At the low end, the District of Columbia Family Court charges $80 for a petition, West Virginia's circuit clerks $135 (W. Va. Code 59-1-11) and Montana's district clerks $170 (MCA 25-1-201).
In the middle, Kansas charges a statewide $195 (K.S.A. 60-2001), Arizona $261 under the schedule effective December 28, 2024, and Oregon $301 for the petition and another $301 for the response (ORS 21.155).
At the high end, Minnesota charges $340 (Minn. Stat. 357.021), Connecticut $360 as the Superior Court entry fee for a civil cause, Florida clerks $408 to $409, and California $435 statewide under Government Code 70670(b), which some counties raise to $450. Where the fee is set by county, as in Alabama ($200 to $340 across its 67 counties), the chart shows the range the source gave. The free estimator shows you your own state's figure and its source.
Learn the add-ons you can pay: the response fee, service, parenting classes, custody and county fees.
The other spouse’s response fee
Arizona charges $172 for a response, New Jersey $175 for an answer, Oregon $301 for a response. In an agreed case one spouse often pays both.
Service of process
Fulton County, Georgia adds $50 for sheriff service to its $215 filing fee. Indiana’s Clark County quotes $177 with certified-mail service and $205 with sheriff service. A private process server sets its own price.
Parenting class surcharges and fees
Hawaii’s Family Court charges $265 with minor children against $215 without, a $50 parent-education surcharge. New Jersey adds a $25 parenting workshop fee; Connecticut’s program fee is paid to the provider, not the court.
Children and custody add-ons
Michigan’s $150 civil filing fee rises by $80 when custody or parenting time is determined (MCL 600.2529). Delaware’s $165 Family Court fee carries a $10 court security fee and extra fees for ancillary matters such as property, alimony and custody.
County and local add-ons
Illinois caps the civil filing fee at $321, or $371 in Cook County, and each county sets its own figure under the cap (705 ILCS 105/27.1b). Minnesota counties add law library fees to the $340 state fee, and Duval County, Florida charges a $12 administrative fee even after an indigency application is approved.
Learn the waiver form or statute each recorded state uses when the fee is out of reach.
If you cannot pay, the court procedure you ask for may be called a fee waiver, an affidavit of indigency or leave to proceed in forma pauperis. 38 jurisdictions in the dataset record the specific path: Alaska uses form TF-920, Connecticut form JD-FM-75, Colorado a JDF 205 motion to file without payment, Delaware a financial affidavit (Form 257P), Georgia and Kansas a poverty affidavit, and the District of Columbia a waiver under D.C. Code 15-712. Maryland and New Jersey run income-based waivers; New Mexico and Utah tell you to ask the clerk or the judge.
A blank fee-waiver cell in the chart means no path was recorded, not that the state has none.
Learn the three ways family lawyers bill, and why no dollar figure is printed here.
Family lawyers bill in one of three ways: by the hour against a retainer, by a flat fee for a defined task such as an uncontested filing, or by limited-scope agreement, paying only for the tasks you hand over. The rate varies by city and seniority; the hours vary with the case.
No state source stated a flat fee or an hourly range, and national survey averages are not per-state figures, so this guide prints none.
Learn the four facts that drive your bill: agreement, children, property and the help you buy.
1
Whether you agree
An uncontested case is paperwork: a petition, a signed agreement, a waiting period, a decree. A contested case adds discovery, motions, temporary orders and a trial, each billed in lawyer hours.
2
Minor children
Children bring a parenting plan, a child-support calculation under the state’s guideline model, often a mandatory parenting class, and in several states mandatory mediation when custody is disputed; some carry their own fee.
3
Property and retirement accounts
A house, a business or a pension has to be valued and divided, under community property rules in 9 states and equitable distribution in the rest; a retirement account usually needs a separate court order.
4
How much representation you buy
Full representation costs the most; limited-scope help or a court self-help center costs the least and leaves the work with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tap a question to see the answer.
The court fee alone, if you and your spouse file without a lawyer, agree on everything and get no waiver: the lowest confirmed fee is $80 (District of Columbia), and several other states charge under $200. Virginia's fee, not yet confirmed, starts at $68. If you are granted a fee waiver, your court cost can be zero; service, copies and a parenting class can still add a little.
Not always. Some states set one statewide fee by statute (Minnesota, Oregon, West Virginia, Kansas); others let each county or circuit set it, sometimes under a cap (Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Virginia), or add county surcharges (California, Minnesota).
The spouse who files pays the petition fee; the other spouse may owe a response fee, listed with the add-ons above. A joint or agreed filing often carries one fee for both.
In some states, yes: Michigan, Hawaii and New Jersey add a charge with children, listed with the add-ons above. Elsewhere the fee is the same and a required parenting class carries its own charge.
Courts have a procedure for you if you cannot pay, and 38 jurisdictions in the dataset name the form or statute; ask the clerk or self-help center before you file.
No statute, fee schedule or court page sets it, so this site quotes none. Lawyers bill hourly against a retainer, by flat fee, or by limited-scope agreement; the hours depend on what is contested, the children and the property.
A contested divorce: every disputed issue becomes discovery, motions and hearings, all billed time. The court fee is the same either way.
Many state judiciaries adjust fee schedules with the fiscal year, so July 1 is the most common change date, and legislatures amend fee statutes after sessions end. The figures here were checked on October 14, 2026.
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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