Costs

To file, you must have your intital divorce papers and be ready to pay some of the court fees. Unless you obtain a fee exemption, you must pay the filing fee and probably a portion of the Friend of the Court fee. Most counties ask for a payment of at least $50 of the Friend of the Court fee at filing. Others collect the friend of the court fee later, and usually at the end of the divorce. You can call your clerk before you file to find out the practice in your county, or just bring enough money to cover both the filing fee and the $30-$50 of the Friend of the Court fee. The filing fee itself for filing the divorce, with children runs from $200 to $300 dollars. When you attend the final hearing, you must pay any remainder of the Friend of the Court fee. Many counties collect $30 - $50 of the Friend of the court fee at filing and the rest at the end of the divorce. If you paid only $30 - $50 up front, and the Friend of the Court did an investigation and recommendation in your case, the remainder of $40 - $60 is due at your final hearing. Besides money for the friend of the court fee, there are the final filing fees for the courts, this varies. Its safe to say to bring around $300-$350! Wow huh!