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 Texas, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a divorce in Texas costs on average $8,900, typically $4,950-$14,800 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $210 to $420 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 | $1,500 | $3,000 | $5,000 | 1-3 months |
| Moderate | $4,950 | $8,900 | $14,800 | 3-6 months |
| Complex | $17,200 | $25,250 | $40,100 | 6-18 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$210 – $420/ hour
Median: $315/hr
3-6 months
For moderate complexity cases
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</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 Texas. The recorded median total is $8,900, with reported quotes clustering between $4,950 and $14,800. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $700–$2,600, which leaves roughly $6,300–$8,200 of the Texas 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 $8,900, the median divorce cost in Texas is in line with the $8,798 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Texas carries 3 rows — simple, $1,500–$5,000 at $155–$315/hr over 1-3 months; moderate, $4,950–$14,800 at $210–$420/hr over 3-6 months; complex, $17,200–$40,100 at $290–$525/hr over 6-18 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it above the midpoint, short of the top quarter.
$8,900 is a median, not the middle of the band — $3,950 above the $4,950 floor, $5,900 under the $14,800 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 51.
At 24th of 51, Texas sits above the midpoint of the divorce table: $350 more than the $8,550 median state, or 4%, with 23 states recording a higher median.
Nevada ($8,950) and Oregon ($8,850) bracket Texas inside a $100 window — narrow enough that 24th is close to arbitrary.
Georgia, Nevada, Oregon record medians within three percent of Texas's $8,900. A divorce quote anywhere in that group is describing effectively the same market.
Texas ranks 20th of 51 on hourly rate at $315 an hour and 24th on total cost — 4 places apart, enough that the rate is a slightly optimistic guide to the total.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Texas |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Michigan | $9,600 | +$700 |
| 19 | Utah | $9,500 | +$600 |
| 20 | Maine | $9,400 | +$500 |
| 21 | Minnesota | $9,350 | +$450 |
| 22 | Georgia | $8,950 | +$50 |
| 23 | Nevada | $8,950 | +$50 |
| 24 | Texas | $8,900 | — |
| 25 | Oregon | $8,850 | −$50 |
| 26 | Arizona | $8,550 | −$350 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $8,400 | −$500 |
| 28 | Wisconsin | $8,300 | −$600 |
| 29 | Wyoming | $8,250 | −$650 |
| 30 | Missouri | $8,100 | −$800 |
The 24th position is not a stable fact about Texas: $50 up or $50 down moves Texas a row, and a ten percent revision in either direction would cross 14 rows, 8 above and 6 below in near-equal numbers.
Climbing five places would mean passing Utah, Maine, Minnesota, Georgia, Nevada and adding $600 to the $8,900 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Oregon, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Wyoming: $650.
$4,000 short of Hawaii ($12,900), $2,850 clear of Alabama ($6,050).
The $8,900 median divided by the $315 median rate implies roughly 28 billable hours. The peer median is 30 hours: Texas reaches its total in 2 fewer implied hours, because the rate rather than the workload carries more of it.
The 8.4x step from the simple to the complex tier breaks down as 4.9x the hours against 1.68x the rate — 13 hours at $235 becomes 64 hours at $395. Hours dominate, but the rate contribution is large enough to notice.
From $4,950 to $14,800 the moderate band is $9,850 wide, close to the $9,550 peer median. End to end that is 31 hours at $315.
Per month of elapsed time the two tiers are close: about $1,978 a month across the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate matter, and $2,104 a month across the 6-18 months recorded for a complex one.
By implied hours Texas falls to 38th of 51 at 28 hours, 14 places below its 24th on cost — the divorce total arriving on less recorded work.
37% up the $4,950–$14,800 band sits the $8,550 table midpoint, buying 27 hours at $315 against the 28 the local divorce median implies — 1 hour apart.
| Measure | Texas | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $8,900 | 24th |
| Hourly median | $315 | 20th |
| Implied hours | 28 | 38th |
| Simple median | $3,000 | 25th |
| Complex median | $25,250 | 10th |
$315 an hour puts Texas between Oregon ($320) and Utah ($315) — not the divorce cost pairing.
Utah records the same $315: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$8,900 buys 38 hours at $235, 28 at $315, 23 at $395.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Minnesota | $320 |
| 19 | Oregon | $320 |
| 20 | Texas | $315 |
| 21 | Utah | $315 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $310 |
Rank is not stable across the tiers, and the direction matters. Texas runs 25th at the simple tier, 24th at moderate, 10th at complex of 51 — it climbs 15 places as the matter gets harder. Straightforward divorce work is recorded at ordinary prices here; contested work is not.
$3,000 is 25th of 51 on a straightforward divorce, under Oregon ($3,000) and over Florida ($2,900), $100 over the $2,900 tier midpoint.
$25,250 is 10th of 51 once contested, between New York ($26,450) and Colorado ($24,750), $3,450 off the $21,800 tier midpoint.
The lower two bands run into each other — the simple tier tops out at $5,000 against a moderate floor of $4,950 — but there is a clear gap of $2,400 between the moderate ceiling of $14,800 and the complex floor of $17,200. In Texas the jump into contested work is a step, not a slope.
| Tier | Texas | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $3,000 | 25th | $2,900 | 13 |
| moderate | $8,900 | 24th | $8,550 | 28 |
| complex | $25,250 | 10th | $21,800 | 64 |
$3,000 drops Texas to 25th of 51 on straightforward matters, 1 below its moderate position and $100 (3%) over the $2,900 tier midpoint.
13 implied hours at $235: 46% of the moderate tier's 28, over 1-3 months.
Oregon ($3,000) and Florida ($2,900) bracket it — a $100 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $3,000 here, against 3 at the moderate row.
$25,250 puts Texas 10th of 51 on contested matters, 14 up on its moderate position, and $3,450 (16%) over the $21,800 tier midpoint.
64 implied hours at $395: 229% of the moderate tier's 28, over 6-18 months.
New York ($26,450) and Colorado ($24,750) bracket it — a $1,700 window.
1 states sit within three percent of the $25,250 here, against 3 at the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | Arizona | $3,100 |
| 24 | Oregon | $3,000 |
| 25 | Texas | $3,000 |
| 26 | Florida | $2,900 |
| 27 | Iowa | $2,900 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Connecticut | $26,550 |
| 9 | New York | $26,450 |
| 10 | Texas | $25,250 |
| 11 | Colorado | $24,750 |
| 12 | Virginia | $24,250 |
$8,900 ranks a divorce 2nd of 8 in Texas, under Criminal Defense, over DUI / DWI. At 81% of Criminal Defense ($10,950).
Across practice areas Texas ranges from 12th of 51 for Estate Planning / Probate to 24th for Real Estate Closing — a 12-place spread, with its 24th on divorce inside it.
The spread across practice areas is wide. Immigration runs 17% above its own midpoint, while Personal Injury runs 9% below its own midpoint — 26 percentage points apart. A single "Texas is expensive" or "Texas is inexpensive" claim would be wrong for at least one of the matter types tracked here.
The largest tracked median in Texas is 5x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
4 of 8 matter types rank Texas in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 4 between; divorce is 24th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 54th percentile of the 51 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,700 | $10,950 | $32,250 | 35 | 16th | +7% | Arizona |
| Divorce | $3,000 | $8,900 | $25,250 | 28 | 24th | +4% | Nevada |
| DUI / DWI | $3,400 | $7,800 | $16,600 | 27 | 22nd | +5% | Illinois |
| Immigration | $1,900 | $5,550 | $10,850 | 19 | 15th | +17% | Utah |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $4,750 | $14,950 | — | 21st | −9% | Iowa |
| Bankruptcy | $1,500 | $3,950 | $4,800 | 15 | 13th | +10% | New Hampshire |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,050 | $2,200 | $4,700 | 8 | 24th | −1% | Illinois |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,200 | $6,500 | 8 | 12th | +6% | Illinois |
Simple tier. $3,000 ÷ $235 = about 13 hours, spread over 1-3 months at roughly $1,500 a month. The $5,900 step to the moderate tier is 15 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $8,900 to $25,250 is a $16,350 step, mostly work: 36 more hours at $315 is $11,340, while moving to $395 across 64 hours adds $5,120. Work carries 69%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Oregon ($8,850) is $50 light, Nevada ($8,950) is $50 heavy — but the $8,550 table midpoint is out by $350, 7x the neighbour error.
Both ends, in time. $4,950 is 16 hours at $315; $14,800 is 47. Over the 3-6 months recorded for a moderate divorce, that is 4 to 10 hours a month — the difference between an occasional file review and continuous work.
Contested against simple. At Texas's own recorded figures, $25,250 buys 8.4 matters at the $3,000 simple median — or, counted in time, 64 implied hours against 13, a factor of 4.9 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Texascourt'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.