This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for divorce in Georgia, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a divorce in Georgia costs on average $8,950, typically $4,950-$14,900 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $190 to $380 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-6 months to resolve. Common related costs include court filing fee ($100-$400) and service of process ($50-$100).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $1,400 | $2,800 | $4,700 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,950 | $8,950 | $14,900 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $13,050 | $19,150 | $30,500 | 6-18 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$190 – $380/ hour
Median: $285/hr
3-6 months
For moderate complexity cases
New to how attorney fees work? Read the legal fees guide — hourly, flat, and contingency billing explained.
Researching costs in another area? These free tools from our network may help.
Add this calculator to your own site with a copy-paste snippet — includes an attribution link back to this page.
<iframe
id="legalcostcalc-embed"
src="https://legalcostcalc.co/embed/georgia/divorce-cost"
title="Georgia Divorce Cost Calculator"
width="100%"
height="720"
style="border:1px solid #e2e8f0;border-radius:8px;max-width:768px;"
loading="lazy"
></iframe>
<p style="font-size:12px;text-align:center;">
<a href="https://legalcostcalc.co/georgia/divorce-cost?utm_source=embed&utm_medium=widget&utm_campaign=embed_snippet" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow ugc">
Powered by LegalCostCalc
</a>
</p>
<script>
window.addEventListener("message", function (event) {
if (!event.data || event.data.type !== "legalcostcalc:embed-resize") return;
var frame = document.getElementById("legalcostcalc-embed");
if (frame && typeof event.data.height === "number") {
frame.style.height = event.data.height + "px";
}
});
</script>Divorce costs form around two variables that compound each other: how much the spouses disagree on, and how many separate issues (property division, child custody, child support, alimony) are in dispute. An uncontested divorce with no minor children and no real estate can resolve with a single court filing fee and a document-preparation charge. Once custody or asset division is contested, cost accumulates from discovery (formal document exchange), mediation sessions billed hourly, and — in the most complex cases — expert witnesses such as forensic accountants (business or investment valuation) and custody evaluators.
Attorney billing in divorce is typically hourly rather than flat-fee, because the number of court appearances and negotiation rounds is not knowable in advance. A retainer is paid upfront and drawn down as the attorney bills time; complex cases often require replenishing the retainer more than once. Court filing fees and mediation fees are set by the state or county and apply regardless of which attorney is hired.
Take a moderate-complexity divorce matter in Georgia. The recorded median total is $8,950, with reported quotes clustering between $4,950 and $14,900. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $700–$2,600, which leaves roughly $6,350–$8,250 of the Georgia median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $8,950, the median divorce cost in Georgia is in line with the $8,798 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Georgia carries 3 rows — simple, $1,400–$4,700 at $145–$285/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,950–$14,900 at $190–$380/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $13,050–$30,500 at $260–$475/hr over 6-18 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it above the midpoint, short of the top quarter.
$8,950 is a median, not the middle of the band — $4,000 above the $4,950 floor, $5,950 under the $14,900 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
At 22nd of 51, Georgia sits above the midpoint of the divorce table: $400 more than the $8,550 median state, or 5%, with 21 states recording a higher median.
Nevada is the nearest state below at $8,950 — $0 away — while the next state up, Minnesota, is a wider $400 step at $9,350. Georgia therefore sits at the top edge of a band rather than in the middle of one.
Nevada, Texas, Oregon record medians within three percent of Georgia's $8,950. A divorce quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
Hourly rate does not explain this state's position. At $285 an hour Georgia is only 29th of 51 on rate, yet 22nd on total divorce cost — the totals reflect billed hours accumulating, not an unusually high rate.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Georgia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | District of Columbia | $9,700 | +$750 |
| 17 | Illinois | $9,650 | +$700 |
| 18 | Michigan | $9,600 | +$650 |
| 19 | Utah | $9,500 | +$550 |
| 20 | Maine | $9,400 | +$450 |
| 21 | Minnesota | $9,350 | +$400 |
| 22 | Georgia | $8,950 | — |
| 23 | Nevada | $8,950 | −$0 |
| 24 | Texas | $8,900 | −$50 |
| 25 | Oregon | $8,850 | −$100 |
| 26 | Arizona | $8,550 | −$400 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $8,400 | −$550 |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $8,300 | −$650 |
$400 up or $0 down moves Georgia a row. A ten percent revision to the underlying figure would cross 13 rows in total — 6 up, 7 down — so the rank reads better as a band than as a precise place.
Climbing five places would mean passing Illinois, Michigan, Utah, Maine, Minnesota and adding $700 to the $8,950 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Arizona, Pennsylvania: $550.
$3,950 short of Hawaii ($12,900), $2,900 clear of Alabama ($6,050).
The $8,950 median divided by the $285 median rate implies roughly 31 billable hours. The peer median is 30 hours, so 1 more hours of work sit behind the Georgia figure than behind the typical state's.
Georgia records a 6.8x gap between its simple and complex divorce medians. Decomposed, that is 4.2x more billed time and 1.65x a higher rate: 13 hours at $215 becomes 54 hours at $355.
From $4,950 to $14,900 the moderate band is $9,950 wide, close to the $9,550 peer median. End to end that is 35 hours at $285.
The $8,950 median across 3-6 months is about $1,989 a month. A complex divorce costs more in total but less per month — roughly $1,596 across 6-18 months — because the additional cost arrives as a longer timeline rather than a heavier monthly burn.
A third ordering: by implied hours Georgia is 12th of 51 at 31 hours, 10 places above its cost rank of 22nd on cost — more work behind the same divorce money.
36% up the $4,950–$14,900 band sits the $8,550 table midpoint, buying 30 hours at $285 against the 31 the local divorce median implies — 1 hour apart.
| Measure | Georgia | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $8,950 | 22nd |
| Hourly median | $285 | 29th |
| Implied hours | 31 | 12th |
| Simple median | $2,800 | 30th |
| Complex median | $19,150 | 35th |
$285 an hour puts Georgia between Florida ($290) and Ohio ($280) — not the divorce cost pairing.
No other tracked state records $285 as its median rate, so the figure identifies Georgia on its own within this dataset.
$8,950 buys 42 hours at $215, 31 at $285, 25 at $355.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Michigan | $295 |
| 28 | Florida | $290 |
| 29 | Georgia | $285 |
| 30 | Ohio | $280 |
| 31 | Wyoming | $275 |
Ranked tier by tier, Georgia slides 5 places downward: 30th at the simple tier, 22nd at moderate, 35th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$2,800 is 30th of 51 on a straightforward divorce, under Ohio ($2,850) and over Pennsylvania ($2,800), $100 under the $2,900 tier midpoint.
$19,150 is 35th of 51 once contested, between Michigan ($19,900) and New Mexico ($19,150), $2,650 off the $21,800 tier midpoint.
$250 separates the simple ceiling of $4,700 from the moderate floor of $4,950, so the first escalation is a clean break, while the moderate and complex bands overlap from $13,050 upward. The expensive end of a routine divorce and the cheap end of a contested one are the same money in Georgia.
| Tier | Georgia | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $2,800 | 30th | $2,900 | 13 |
| moderate | $8,950 | 22nd | $8,550 | 31 |
| complex | $19,150 | 35th | $21,800 | 54 |
$2,800 drops Georgia to 30th of 51 on straightforward matters, 8 below its moderate position and $100 (3%) under the $2,900 tier midpoint.
13 implied hours at $215: 42% of the moderate tier's 31, over 1-3 months.
Ohio ($2,850) and Pennsylvania ($2,800) bracket it — a $50 window.
5 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $2,800, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
$19,150 drops Georgia to 35th of 51 on contested matters, 13 below its moderate position and $2,650 (12%) under the $21,800 tier midpoint.
54 implied hours at $355: 174% of the moderate tier's 31, over 6-18 months.
Michigan ($19,900) and New Mexico ($19,150) bracket it — a $750 window.
4 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $19,150, denser than the 3 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | Nevada | $2,850 |
| 29 | Ohio | $2,850 |
| 30 | Georgia | $2,800 |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $2,800 |
| 32 | Tennessee | $2,800 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Mississippi | $20,000 |
| 34 | Michigan | $19,900 |
| 35 | Georgia | $19,150 |
| 36 | New Mexico | $19,150 |
| 37 | Kansas | $19,100 |
$8,950 ranks a divorce 2nd of 8 in Georgia, under Criminal Defense, over DUI / DWI. At 88% of Criminal Defense ($10,150).
The state does not rank uniformly. Georgia is 15th of 51 for Personal Injury but 33rd for Real Estate Closing, a 18-place spread across the matter types tracked here, so its 22nd on divorce says little about what the other lines cost.
Georgia is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Divorce runs 5% above its own midpoint while Real Estate Closing runs 15% below its own midpoint — a 20-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Georgia is 5.3x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
1 of 8 matter types rank Georgia in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 7 between; divorce is 22nd.
In percentile terms it sits at the 58th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,250 | $10,150 | $29,900 | 36 | 27th | level | Alaska |
| Divorce | $2,800 | $8,950 | $19,150 | 31 | 22nd | +5% | Minnesota |
| DUI / DWI | $3,250 | $7,700 | $17,000 | 30 | 24th | +3% | Utah |
| Personal Injury | $1,500 | $5,150 | $14,000 | — | 15th | −1% | District of Columbia |
| Immigration | $2,000 | $4,400 | $11,350 | 17 | 29th | −7% | Idaho |
| Bankruptcy | $1,300 | $3,100 | $5,200 | 13 | 33rd | −14% | North Carolina |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $600 | $2,050 | $5,750 | 8 | 24th | −1% | Wisconsin |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,000 | $1,900 | $4,050 | 8 | 33rd | −15% | West Virginia |
Simple tier. $2,800 ÷ $215 = about 13 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,400 a month. The $6,150 step to the moderate tier is 18 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $8,950 to $19,150 is a $10,200 step, mostly work: 23 more hours at $285 is $6,555, while moving to $355 across 54 hours adds $3,780. Work carries 63%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Nevada ($8,950) lands $0 under Georgia; from Minnesota ($9,350), $400 over; from the $8,550 table midpoint, $400 out.
Both ends, in time. $4,950 is 17 hours at $285; $14,900 is 52. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate divorce, that is 4 to 12 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Georgia's own recorded figures, $19,150 buys 6.8 matters at the $2,800 simple median — or, counted in time, 54 implied hours against 13, a factor of 4.2 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Georgiacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.