Divorce cost · PA
Cost of divorce in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania prices a divorce as a stack of statutory charges collected by each county, and its two no-fault routes run on very different clocks.
Rules read on official Pennsylvania pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Filing fee
- $334.73
- county (Philadelphia County)
- Response fee
- $144.54
- Waiting period
- 90 days
- Fees read on
- October 8, 2026
Starting a divorce in Philadelphia costs $334.73, the commencement fee listed by the First Judicial District's Office of Judicial Records in its schedule effective November 12, 2025. The amount is a base fee under 42 Pa.C.S. § 1725 plus a stack of statutory add-ons for court automation, judicial education, the family court facility, the law library and state funds. When the defendant files anything, the first filing costs $144.54. Other counties collect the same state components but their own local parts, so totals differ. Time drives the rest. With both spouses' consent the court can grant the divorce once 90 days have passed since the action began; without consent, the spouses must have lived separate and apart for a year. One spouse must have been a bona fide Pennsylvania resident for six months, and an application under Rule 240 can waive the fees.
Estimated cost of a divorce in Pennsylvania
$335
of which $334.73 in court fees · earliest final decree after 90 days
| Court filing fee (petition) | $334.73 |
Low income? Court fees can be waived in Pennsylvania: Application to Waive Fees and Costs (Pa.R.Civ.P. 240 / Pa.R.J.A. 1990).
Court fees are the official Pennsylvania amounts; attorney, mediation and service costs are the figures you enter. How this is calculated.
Reading the Philadelphia fee line
The Office of Judicial Records schedule itemizes $334.73 line by line, and only one of them, the base fee, is what most people think of as "the filing fee". The others are statutory charges the clerk must collect on every family filing. That is why a Pennsylvania divorce never comes to a round number. Each extra count in the complaint, such as a custody claim, triggers its own set of fees; a first filing for custody, partial custody or visitation is listed at $108.13.
The defendant's first filing, usually an answer and counterclaim, costs $144.54. When both spouses file, the court collects $479.27 before any other step. Later charges belong to the end of the case: the praecipe to transmit the record to the judge for the decree is $66.22, and a motion to appoint a master to hear economic claims such as equitable distribution or alimony is $496.98.
Consent at 90 days, or a year apart
Mutual consent divorce: the court may grant the divorce once 90 days have elapsed from commencement of the action and each party has filed an affidavit of consent (23 Pa.C.S. § 3301(c)). Without consent, irretrievable breakdown requires the parties to have lived separate and apart for at least one year (§ 3301(d)). The mutual consent route is the cheap one: both spouses sign affidavits of consent after the 90 days, and the decree follows once any economic claims are resolved. The irretrievable breakdown route exists for a spouse who will not consent; the year of separation is counted before the affidavit, and the other spouse can contest it. The choice between the two matters more to cost than any fee.
At least one party must have been a bona fide resident of Pennsylvania for at least six months immediately before the action is commenced (23 Pa.C.S. § 3104(b)).
Budgeting a consent divorce
A spouse in Philadelphia who files, gets the other's consent and hires a lawyer for 9 hours at $325 (sample figures only, replace them with your quote) would see the commencement fee of $334.73 and an estimate of $3,260; adding the praecipe brings the court's share to $400.95. Support in Pennsylvania is set by the guideline on the Pennsylvania child support page, and spousal support or alimony pendente lite by the formula on the Pennsylvania alimony page. Next door, New Jersey and Ohio price a divorce very differently.
The Pennsylvania fees and rules this calculator applies
| Court fee | Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Petition for divorce | $334.73 |
| Response or answer | $144.54 |
| First filing for custody, partial custody or visitation (Philadelphia) | $108.13 |
| Motion for appointment of permanent master (Philadelphia) | $496.98 |
| Praecipe to transmit record (Philadelphia) | $66.22 |
Filing fee. Philadelphia Office of Judicial Records, Family Court, Divorce, Commencement of Action: $334.73 (base fee $189.20 under 42 Pa.C.S. § 1725(c)(2)(iii) plus statutory add-ons); Defendant First Filing: $144.54. Fee schedule effective November 12, 2025. source
Fee waiver. Application to Waive Fees and Costs (Pa.R.Civ.P. 240 / Pa.R.J.A. 1990). source
Residency. At least one party must have been a bona fide resident of Pennsylvania for at least six months immediately before the action is commenced (23 Pa.C.S. § 3104(b)). source
Waiting period. Mutual consent divorce: the court may grant the divorce once 90 days have elapsed from commencement of the action and each party has filed an affidavit of consent (23 Pa.C.S. § 3301(c)). Without consent, irretrievable breakdown requires the parties to have lived separate and apart for at least one year (§ 3301(d)). source
Simplified procedure. No separate summary procedure; the mutual-consent divorce (23 Pa.C.S. § 3301(c)) is the fastest no-fault route. source
Parenting class. No statewide statutory parenting class for divorce was verified; Pennsylvania courts may order parenting education in custody cases by local rule.