Estimate the total cost of your divorce — filing fees for your state, plus attorney, mediation, or DIY paths, contested vs. uncontested.
The single biggest cost driver is conflict, not state law. An uncontested divorce with full agreement can cost little more than the filing fee ($100-$450 in most states) plus forms. Add a genuine dispute over custody or property and attorney hours multiply: typical hourly rates run $250-$400, and contested cases commonly consume 40-100+ hours across both sides.
Mediation sits in between — typically $3,000-$8,000 total for a full process, often shared between spouses. Filing fees shown for your state come from court sources where we have verified them; otherwise we show the national range.
An uncontested DIY divorce: agree on everything, file the forms yourselves, pay only the court filing fee. Many states offer fee waivers if you can't afford it.
By default each spouse pays their own, but courts in most states can order the higher-earning spouse to contribute to the other's fees to level the playing field.
The mediated agreement becomes binding once it's written up, signed, and entered by the court as part of the divorce decree — same force as any court order.
This is an educational estimate, not legal advice and not a prediction of any court order. Judges may deviate from guidelines. Verify results with the official state calculator above and consult a family law attorney for your situation.