Divorce cost · TX
Cost of divorce in Texas
Texas has no statewide divorce fee: each district clerk collects its own total, and Harris County, the most populous, is the reference used here.
Rules read on official Texas pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Filing fee
- $350
- county (Harris County)
- Response fee
- See rules
- Waiting period
- 60 days
- Fees read on
- October 8, 2026
Filing for divorce in Harris County, Texas costs $350 when the couple has no children and $365 when they do, according to the District Clerk's fee schedule effective January 1, 2026; the gap is the domestic relations fee charged in every case involving children. Those totals do not include service of citation on the other spouse. The answering spouse pays no fee for a plain answer, but a counterpetition asking the court for its own relief costs $80. Texas has no summary divorce, so even a fully agreed case goes through the ordinary petition, waiting time and decree. The court cannot sign the decree before the 60th day after filing, under Family Code § 6.702, except in some family violence cases. A spouse who cannot pay files a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs and pays nothing to the clerk.
Estimated cost of a divorce in Texas
$350
of which $350 in court fees · earliest final decree after 60 days
| Court filing fee (petition) | $350 |
Low income? Court fees can be waived in Texas: Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs or an Appeal Bond (Tex. R. Civ. P. 145).
Court fees are the official Texas amounts; attorney, mediation and service costs are the figures you enter. How this is calculated.
Why a Texas fee depends on the courthouse
The Texas Legislature fixes many of the pieces that make up a civil filing fee, but the district clerk of each county adds them up and posts its own total. This page uses the Harris County District Clerk schedule, because Harris is the largest county; a filing in Travis, Dallas or a rural county will be close but not identical. Ask the clerk of the county where you file before you pay. Harris splits divorce into two lines: $350 without children and $365 with children, the extra being the domestic relations fee the state adds to every family case involving children.
What the respondent pays
A spouse who only files an answer, or who signs a waiver of service, pays nothing in Harris County. A counterpetition is different: it is a new claim and costs $80. Later in the case a motion for contempt to enforce temporary orders costs $80. Service by a constable or a private process server is billed on top and varies.
Residence, then 60 days
Either spouse must have been a domiciliary of Texas for the preceding 6 months and a resident of the filing county for the preceding 90 days (Fam. Code § 6.301). Once the petition is on file, the 60-day period starts counting from the filing date, not from service. Agreed couples often sign their decree on or soon after day 60; a contested case runs as long as discovery and the court's docket require. The statute carves out certain family violence cases, where the court may act sooner; agreement between the spouses is not one of the exceptions.
Paying for the agreed route
Because Texas offers no simplified procedure, the paperwork of an agreed divorce matches a contested one: original petition, waiver or service, and a final decree with any property division and parenting order. Suppose one spouse hires a lawyer at $275 an hour for 10 hours to draft the decree; both figures are invented for the example, so replace them with your own quote. With no children the clerk's part is $350 and the total $3,100. With children, the filing line rises to $365 and the decree must include a parenting plan and guideline support, which the Texas child support calculator computes from net resources. Courts may also order a parent education course under § 105.009; some counties require it by local rule. Maintenance after the divorce is capped by statute, as the Texas alimony page explains.
The Texas fees and rules this calculator applies
| Court fee | Texas |
|---|---|
| Petition for divorce | $350 |
| Divorce with children (Harris County) | $365 |
| Cross-action/counterclaim (Harris County) | $80 |
| Motion for contempt (Harris County) | $80 |
Filing fee. Harris County District Clerk, fees due at filing of a new divorce suit, effective January 1, 2026: Divorce no children $350.00; Divorce with children $365.00 (includes the $15 domestic relations fee added to all cases involving children). Service fees not included. No separate fee for an answer is listed; a cross-action/counterclaim is $80.00. source
Fee waiver. Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs or an Appeal Bond (Tex. R. Civ. P. 145). source
Residency. Either spouse must have been a domiciliary of Texas for the preceding 6 months and a resident of the filing county for the preceding 90 days (Fam. Code § 6.301). source
Waiting period. The court may not grant a divorce before the 60th day after the suit was filed, except in certain family-violence cases (Fam. Code § 6.702). source
Simplified procedure. No summary or simplified divorce procedure in the Family Code; agreed divorces follow the ordinary procedure.
Parenting class. Not required statewide: in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship the court may order a parent education and family stabilization course of 4 to 12 hours (Fam. Code § 105.009); some counties require it by local rule. source