How much does a divorce cost
Court fees, the lawyer's fee schedule, and other costs of agreed and contested divorce.
What goes into the total cost
The cost of a divorce consists of the court fee, a possible lawyer's fee, and, in a smaller number of cases, the cost of expert evaluation or notarial certification. The court fee is independent of which route is chosen - a single fee in the same amount is paid for both the agreed petition and the claim, based on the value of the dispute that the law fixes for marital disputes. The fee amount changes from time to time with amendments to the Law on Court Fees, so it is worth checking immediately before filing.
The biggest difference between the two routes is not the fee, but the extent of the lawyer's involvement. In an agreed divorce with no dispute over children or property, the fee under the tariff is tied to a single hearing and drafting the agreement, so it is predictable in advance. In a divorce by claim, the fee depends on the number of hearings, the reconciliation and settlement phase, any expert evaluation, and the possibility of an appeal - each additional step increases the total cost, so the upper limit cannot be reliably determined without reviewing the specific case file.
Additional costs arise only in special situations: expert evaluation when the value of property is disputed or a psychological assessment concerning the child is needed, and notarial certification if the property-division agreement requires it.
Worked example
A worked example is given in the example field above - it covers an uncontested agreed divorce, as well as the approximate effect of additional hearings in a divorce by claim. The specific amount in each case depends on whether there is a dispute, how many hearings are needed, and whether the parties engage one lawyer or two.
Sources
- Law on Court Fees (Zakon o sudskim taksama, Official Gazette RS Nos. 28/94 ... 95/2018 and 91/2025), Art. 27 para. 1 item 8, Tariff No. 1 (note 1) and Tariff No. 2
- Worked example of the fee after the 2025 amendments: a value of RSD 20,000 gives RSD 2,800 + 4% = RSD 3,600 (mondo.rs, "Kolike sudske takse će Srbi plaćati ubuduće")
- Tariff on Attorneys' Fees and Costs, tabular overview applied from 5 July 2025 (divorce: submission RSD 27,500, hearing RSD 32,500)
What it costs
| Item | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Court fee on the claim or petition for divorce | 3,600 RSD (2,800 RSD plus 4% of the statutory value of the dispute of 20,000 RSD set for marital disputes) - the same for both agreed and contested divorce. A fee of the same amount is paid for the first-instance judgment. | Law on Court Fees, Art. 27 para. 1 item 8, Tariff No. 1 (note 1) and Tariff No. 2, as amended in 2025 ('Sl. glasnik RS', no. 91/2025) |
| Lawyer's fee for drafting the petition/claim and representation | Under the current attorneys' tariff, 27,500 RSD for drafting the petition (550 points × 50 RSD per point) and 32,500 RSD for one held hearing in an agreed divorce. In a divorce by claim, the fee increases for each additional hearing and for special actions (response to the claim, appeal, expert evaluation), so the total amount depends on the scope of the dispute and the agreement with the lawyer. | Attorneys' Fee Schedule (Tarifa o nagradama i naknadama troškova za rad advokata) (Bar Association of Serbia); point value of 50 RSD, applied from 5 July 2025. |
| Cost of expert evaluation, if the value of property is disputed or a psychological evaluation concerning the child is needed | Depends on the type of evaluation. Ask the specific expert or institution for an indicative price. | The cost is, as a rule, advanced by the party who requested the evaluation; the court makes the final allocation according to the outcome of the dispute. |
| Certification of the joint property-division agreement before a notary public, if the parties choose this or the content of the agreement requires it | Depends on the value of the property being divided. A notary public can give the specific amount under the current notarial tariff. | Notarial tariff |
Worked example
Spouses with no dispute over children or property choose an agreed divorce. They pay a single court fee on the petition in the amount of 3,600 RSD, since in an agreed divorce only one fee is charged regardless of the fact that the petition is filed jointly, and then a fee of the same amount for the judgment. If each of them hires a lawyer to draft the agreement and represent them at the hearing, the fee under the current attorneys' tariff is 27,500 RSD for drafting the petition and 32,500 RSD for the hearing, 60,000 RSD in total per lawyer, though the lawyer and the client can agree on a lower amount, since the tariff allows a discount of up to 50%. If only one spouse has a representative and the other represents themselves, the couple's total cost comes down to the fees of 2 x 3,600 RSD plus one lawyer's fee. In a divorce by claim with, for example, three hearings and a disputed child-support issue, the fee rises in proportion to the number of hearings, so the upper limit of the cost cannot be determined in advance - an indicative estimate for the specific case is given by the lawyer after reviewing the file.
FAQ
Who pays the court fee in an agreed divorce?
In an agreed divorce, a single fee is paid on the petition. The law does not prescribe that it must be paid by one particular spouse - that is a matter for their mutual agreement.
Is it possible to be exempted from paying the court fee?
The Law on Court Fees allows an exemption from paying the fee for a person whose financial position would be jeopardized by paying it, based on a certificate of financial status that the court assesses in each individual case.
Is a separate fee charged for a child-support claim filed together with the divorce?
Not separately. When a child-support claim is raised together with the divorce, only one fee is charged, based on the value of the dispute set for divorce.
Who ultimately bears the costs of proceedings in a divorce by claim?
The court decides on the allocation of costs according to the outcome of the dispute and the special rules for marital disputes. In practice, costs are often split, or borne by the party whose claim was rejected in its predominant part; a realistic assessment of the actual allocation for a given case can only be made by the lawyer handling the proceedings.