Divorce Filing-Fee Variation in PlainCivil's Coverage Set
PlainCivil's stored divorce filing-fee floors range from $150 (Ohio) to $435 (California) across 10 covered states. This comparison is not a nationwide survey or a current court quote.
Research question
How do the divorce filing-fee floors stored in PlainCivil's current coverage set differ across its 10 tracked states? This page describes that limited comparison only; it does not determine the current fee, total cost, venue, or legal options for an individual case.
Method
This page reads the divorce rows already stored in PlainCivil's 10-state database and compares nonzero filing_fee_min values. It reports the portal's recorded fee floor, not a live fee lookup. The database's recorded vintage is March 2026 and some records in the wider dataset are marked estimated. The comparison excludes null and zero fee-floor values and does not model every county, case type, add-on, waiver, or other cost. Confirm the current fee and requirements with the court that will hear the matter.
Five highest stored fee floors in this coverage set
| # | State | Filing fee floor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $435 |
| 2 | Florida | $400 |
| 3 | New York | $335 |
| 4 | Texas | $250 |
| 5 | North Carolina | $225 |
Five lowest stored fee floors in this coverage set
| # | State | Filing fee floor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio | $150 |
| 2 | Michigan | $150 |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | $200 |
| 4 | Georgia | $200 |
| 5 | Illinois | $210 |
Findings
Within the 10 covered divorce records with a nonzero fee floor, the highest stored value is $435 for California and the lowest is $150 for Ohio. The unweighted mean of these stored rows is $256.
The high-to-low ratio within this limited table is 2.9×. It describes the database values only; it does not establish why jurisdictions differ or measure access, court funding, legal outcomes, or total case costs.
Use the divorce process pages to inspect the portal's stored state records, then check the current court or clerk source before filing. Fee-waiver eligibility, timelines, and local costs require jurisdiction-specific confirmation.
Limitations
A stored filing-fee floor is not the total cost of a case. Local rules, county charges, case facts, service, motions, representation, and fee-waiver rules can materially change what applies. The portal covers only 10 states and is not a survey of all jurisdictions. Fees and procedures may have changed after the database vintage, so this comparison is informational context rather than a current quote or legal advice.
Sources
- State court system links for the jurisdictions represented in this coverage set. Confirm the applicable current court or clerk source before relying on a fee.
- National Center for State Courts - general court-administration context, not the authority for a stored state fee.
- See the methodology for coverage, vintage, and limits.