Cost of divorce in Virginia

The Code fee and the local layer

In all divorce and separate maintenance proceedings the circuit court clerk's fee chargeable to the plaintiff is $60, $10 of which goes to the Courts Technology Fund; no fee is charged for a counterclaim or any other responsive pleading in a divorce (Va. Code § 17.1-275(A)(26)). Other statutory and local add-on fees (e.g. law library, courthouse, service) are not included. So the calculator shows $60 as the official base, and you should add the local fees of the circuit court where you file. The clerk of the circuit court where you file can give you the full local total before you file.

Service is the other routine charge: $12 for each person a Virginia sheriff serves, under § 17.1-272. A defendant who signs an acceptance of service saves it.

One year apart, or six months with an agreement

No waiting period after filing, but a no-fault divorce requires living separate and apart without cohabitation for one year, or six months if there is a separation agreement and no minor children (Va. Code § 20-91(A)(9)(a)). The separation must be continuous, without interruption and without cohabitation, so moving back in together, even briefly, can put the start date in question. The six-month route is the cheapest Virginia divorce: a couple without minor children who have signed a separation agreement on property and support can file as soon as the six months end. With minor children the six-month option is closed, even if the parents agree on everything.

One of the parties must have been an actual bona fide resident and domiciliary of Virginia for at least six months before filing (Va. Code § 20-97).

The parent education seminar

Where custody, visitation or support of a child is contested, the parties must show they attended within the prior 12 months, or will attend within 45 days, an educational seminar approved by the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia; in uncontested cases the court may require it only for good cause (Va. Code § 20-103; § 16.1-278.15). The 12-month look-back means a parent who already took the seminar in a related case does not repeat it.

A worked example

A Richmond spouse files after a year of separation, has the sheriff serve the other spouse, and hires a lawyer for 6 hours at $300 an hour; the hours and rate are hypothetical inputs you should replace. The calculator counts $60 of Code fees, $12 of service and $1,872 in total, before the local add-ons of the Richmond Circuit Court. A filer who cannot pay uses Petition for Proceeding in Civil Case Without Payment of Fees or Costs (Form CC-1414). Spousal support has a pendente lite formula on the Virginia alimony page, child support a schedule on the Virginia child support page, and North Carolina also requires a year apart.