What a Missouri divorce actually costs to file.
Not a range, not an estimate, not a lawyer’s blog. Every figure below is traced to a statute, a court fee schedule, or a clerk’s own published page — and linked to it.
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It costs $132.50 to file for divorce in Missouri. Below is where that money goes, what it does not cover, and what to do if you do not have it.
Worth knowing before you file. There is no such thing as ‘the Missouri divorce filing fee’ – the three circuit schedules verified here range from $132.50 (Greene) to $197.50 (Clay, with children), and Clay County alone charges $60 more when minor children are involved. Separately, House Bill 147 changed WHO gets paid: Greene County’s clerk now warns that ‘Effective 08/28/25 and pursuant to Sections 57.280 and 488.435, RSMo, House Bill 147 – All sheriff service fees are to be made payable to and collected by the Sheriff Department,’ so filers must bring a second, separate money order and the clerk cannot even issue a receipt for it.
Where the money goes
Missouri does not break this down
Missouri circuit clerks publish a single filing DEPOSIT per case type, not a component breakdown, so no breakdown is given here. The only itemisation found on an official circuit schedule is Clay County’s, which annotates each figure ‘Including library fee’ (the law library surcharge authorized by § 488.426 RSMo) without stating that surcharge’s amount. Statute gives partial, PRE-ADJUSTMENT defaults that the Supreme Court has since superseded – § 488.012.3(14) RSMo lists ‘forty-five dollars for filing of other cases, pursuant to section 483.530’ and § 488.012.3(5) lists ‘Seven dollars for the statewide court automation fund, pursuant to section 488.027’ – but § 488.012.1-.2 makes clear these are historical figures superseded by Supreme Court rule, so they are NOT presented as current components.
How it changes by county
Missouri does not publish a statewide divorce filing fee at all. § 488.012.1 RSMo directs each clerk to collect ‘the court costs authorized by statute, in such amounts as are authorized by supreme court rule,’ and circuits then layer on locally-set surcharges – most importantly the civil-case surcharge under § 488.426.2 RSMo, under which ‘The circuit court in any circuit, except the circuit court in Jackson County, the circuit court in the City of St. Louis, or the circuit court in any circuit that reimburses the state for the salaries of family court commissioners … may change the fee to any amount not to exceed fifteen dollars,’ while Jackson County, the City of St. Louis and family-court-commissioner circuits ‘may change the fee to any amount not to exceed twenty dollars.’ The result is that each circuit clerk publishes its own filing deposit, and the three verified below differ by up to $65.
The statutory circuit civil cost bundle for a dissolution is $83.50 — clerk fee $45.00, court automation fund $7.00, court reporter $15.00, domestic relations resolution fund $3.00, juvenile justice preservation fund $3.50, and OSCA-BCLS fund $10.00 — plus a $2.00 domestic violence shelter surcharge under RSMo 488.445.2. Effective August 28, 2023. Every Missouri county charges at least that; the deposits below add the family court surcharge and law library surcharge where they apply.
| County | What you pay to file | Service |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson (Kansas City) | $144.50 | $46.00 service fee (raised from $36.00 effective January 1, 2026 per a statutory revision noted by the court) |
| St. Louis County (21st Circuit) | $148.50 | Not published as a dissolution-specific line on the schedule of deposits |
| City of St. Louis (22nd Circuit) — most expensive confirmed base deposit | $177.50 plus $36.00 if the City Sheriff serves your spouse — $213.50 all in | $36.00 for the City Sheriff to serve the respondent. The order specifically says that if any OTHER county's sheriff or a private process server does the serving, pay them directly and do not include it in the deposi |
| Clay (Liberty, 7th Circuit) | $137.50 without children; $197.50 with children | Service fees additional; not published as a single dissolution figure |
| Jefferson (Hillsboro, 23rd Circuit) — biggest with-children jump in the state | $130.50 without children; $230.50 with children | Not stated as a figure. The schedule says to make the check for sheriff's fees payable to the agency doing the service. |
| Greene (Springfield, 31st Circuit) | $132.50 | $55.00 Greene County Sheriff ($1 extra for posting), paid by SEPARATE money order or personal check made payable to the Greene County Sheriff's Office — effective August 28, 2025 under RSMo 57.280 and 488.435. Regis |
| Boone (Columbia, 13th Circuit) | $162.50 including sheriff service | Sheriff service is included in the $162.50; mileage may be added if service is outside city limits |
| Callaway (Fulton, 13th Circuit) — rural | $132.50 | Sheriff service arrangements differ from Boone; the circuit directs filers to contact the Callaway Family Court Clerk for publication costs |
| Cass (Harrisonville, 17th Circuit) | $132.50 | $30.00 plus mileage for the Cass County Sheriff, paid by money order made payable to the Cass County Sheriff and brought to the circuit clerk with your paperwork. For service in another county, contact that county's |
| Buchanan (St. Joseph, 5th Circuit) — cheapest confirmed in Missouri | $97.50 | Not published. The circuit tells you to contact the sheriff of the county where service will be obtained; the fee is required in advance. |
| Andrew (Savannah, 5th Circuit) — small rural county | $102.50 | Not published; contact the sheriff of the county where service will be made, in advance |
| Morgan (Versailles) — small rural county | $132.50 | Not published on the filing fees page |
The spread: Cheapest confirmed: Buchanan County (St. Joseph) at $97.50 — the only confirmed Missouri dissolution deposit under $100. Most expensive confirmed: the City of St. Louis at $177.50, or $213.50 once the City Sheriff's $36.00 service fee is added. If you have children, Jefferson County's $230.50 is the highest single number confirmed anywhere in the state. The whole Missouri spread is about $133 — far tighter than Tennessee's, because Missouri fixes its cost components by statute and leaves counties very little room.
What makes up each of these numbers
- Jackson (Kansas City) — Filing deposit for Dissolution of Marriage / Annulment. The schedule states plainly that all filing deposits listed do NOT include the service fee. source
- St. Louis County (21st Circuit) — Deposit required for Dissolution of Marriage on the circuit's Schedule of Deposits and Fees. Converting a legal separation to a dissolution costs the same $148.50. source
- City of St. Louis (22nd Circuit) — most expensive confirmed base deposit — Family Court Matters deposit $177.50, set by amended administrative order of the presiding judge. Sheriff's service fee for the respondent $36.00. source
- Clay (Liberty, 7th Circuit) — Listed as Domestic Relations Petitions, and the schedule notes each figure is 'including library fee' — this is one of the counties where the local law library surcharge is baked in. source
- Jefferson (Hillsboro, 23rd Circuit) — biggest with-children jump in the state — Filing fee deposits set by the 23rd Judicial Circuit. Effective July 1, 2021. source
- Greene (Springfield, 31st Circuit) — Dissolution of Marriage filing fee. Sheriff service is no longer collected by the clerk. source
- Boone (Columbia, 13th Circuit) — The circuit itemizes it: clerk fee $45.00, law library $15.00, sheriff $20.00, sheriff's salary support $10.00, plus the statutory surcharges. Boone is one of the counties that adopted the law library surcharge. source
- Callaway (Fulton, 13th Circuit) — rural — Same circuit as Boone, $30.00 cheaper — a clean illustration that the difference is the local surcharge layer, not the underlying statute. source
- Cass (Harrisonville, 17th Circuit) — Dissolution — without children $132.50 and Dissolution — with children $132.50, listed separately on the schedule but at the identical price. The schedule states civil and domestic fees do not include cost of service or publication. source
- Buchanan (St. Joseph, 5th Circuit) — cheapest confirmed in Missouri — Cost deposit for dissolution / legal separation in the 5th Judicial Circuit. Below $100 because Buchanan does not layer on the surcharges that push the metro counties higher. source
- Andrew (Savannah, 5th Circuit) — small rural county — Same circuit as Buchanan, $5.00 more. Dissolution / legal separation deposit. source
- Morgan (Versailles) — small rural county — Listed under Circuit Division as Domestic Relations, which covers dissolutions, motions to modify child custody, family access motions, paternity and petitions for child support. Ordinary civil cases are $100.50, so the domestic premium here is $32.00. source
What catches people out
- Missouri calls it a DEPOSIT, not a fee. It is money held against your case's costs. If the case runs up more cost than you put down, you can be asked for more.
- Most Missouri counties charge the same whether or not you have children — but not all. Jefferson County charges $100 more with children and Clay County charges $60 more. Do not assume.
- Sheriff service is nearly always on top, and in a growing number of counties you now have to write the sheriff a SEPARATE check. Greene County switched on August 28, 2025 and will not even give you a receipt for it. Cass County wants a money order payable to the sheriff. Show up with two forms of payment.
- If your spouse lives in a different county, the service money goes to that county's sheriff, and you have to call them yourself to find out the amount. St. Louis City, Cass and Buchanan all say this in writing.
- If you cannot find your spouse and have to serve by publication, that is a real bill on top of everything: $140 in Greene County, about $100 more in Boone.
- Two counties in the SAME judicial circuit can charge different amounts. Boone is $162.50 and Callaway is $132.50, both in the 13th Circuit. Buchanan is $97.50 and Andrew is $102.50, both in the 5th.
What we could not confirm
- St. Charles County publishes a fee schedule for the 11th Judicial Circuit, but the state courts website refuses automated requests and carries an express notice against them. We did not try to get around it, so the divorce filing fee there is unconfirmed. The county sheriff’s own civil process schedule is readable: service is $49.00 for the first party, effective 1 March 2026.
- St. Charles County — the third most populous county in Missouri — posts its fee schedule on a state server that refused every attempt to read it. Call the circuit clerk before you go. Platte and Franklin counties do not appear to publish a dissolution deposit online.
12 counties confirmed against the clerk’s own published schedule. Fee schedules change without notice — call before you drive over.
The published range
$132.50 – $197.50 across the counties we were able to confirm from official sources.
| County | Published fee | Schedule dated |
|---|---|---|
| Greene County (31st Judicial Circuit, Springfield) | $132.50 | no date printedofficial source |
| Jackson County (16th Judicial Circuit, Kansas City) | $144.50 | no date printedofficial source |
| Clay County (7th Judicial Circuit, Liberty) | $137.50 without children / $197.50 with children | EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1, 2021 (printed on the administrative order)official source |
What the filing fee does not cover
The filing fee is usually the smallest predictable number in a divorce. This is where the rest of the budget lives — and where “not published” appears most often.
Nothing extra to e-file
We looked for a portal fee and a card surcharge in Missouri and found neither published. That is not the same as a guarantee — clerks can charge for things they do not put on a web page — but there is no extra charge we can point you at. Whether you have to e-file at all is on the Missouri kit.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Service of process by sheriff, per respondent§ 57.280.1: ‘Sheriffs shall receive a charge for service of any summons, writ, or other order of court, in connection with any civil case … the sum of twenty dollars for each item to be served,’ plus ‘for each mile actually traveled … the rate prescribed by the Internal Revenue Service.’ § 57.280.4(1) adds ‘the sheriff of any county of the first, second, or fourth classification or with a charter form of government shall receive twenty dollars and the sheriff of any county of the third classification shall receive fifteen dollars.’ County-published figures: Greene County Circuit Clerk lists ‘Greene County Sheriff $55’ and warns that, effective 08/28/25 under HB 147, sheriff service fees must now be paid by separate money order or check payable to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, not to the clerk (https://www.greenecountycourts.org/fees). Jackson County lists $46.00 per defendant and states ‘Effective 01-01-2026, an additional $10 will be added to the Service Fee, raising the fee to $46, pursuant to revisions to Section 57.280.4(1) RSMo’ (https://www.16thcircuit.org/civil_fees). § 57.280.1 and § 57.280.4(1) RSMo | $20.00 statutory base + $20.00 or $15.00 statutory add-on + IRS mileage rate; counties actually charge more (Greene County $55.00; Jackson County $46.00) |
| Parenting/parent-education class, if requiredMANDATORY BY DEFAULT with minor children: ‘In an action for dissolution of marriage or legal separation involving minor children … the court shall, except for good cause, unless otherwise provided by local rule, order the parties to attend educational sessions concerning the effects of custody and the dissolution of marriage on children.’ ‘Good cause’ expressly includes the parties having stipulated to custody and visitation, or a safety finding. The court may also order the minor children to attend. NO fee amount is set by statute and no statewide figure is published; providers and per-circuit local rules set the cost. Null. § 452.605 RSMo | not published |
| Court-ordered mediationNo statewide Missouri mediation fee was verified from an official source. courts.mo.gov, which hosts the statewide court rules and circuit pages, expressly prohibits automated access (see the sources we could not reach, below), and none of the three circuit fee schedules reached lists a mediation charge. Null. | not published |
| E-filing or credit-card surchargewe could not verified. Missouri’s eFiling system is documented on courts.mo.gov, which blocked automated access. Greene County’s schedule notes only that the clerk ‘accepts cash, cashier’s check, money order, business checks, MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express’ without stating a surcharge. Null. | not published |
If you cannot afford to file
More people qualify than apply. If this section applies to you it is the most useful thing on this page.
Missouri has a way to file without paying up front
This is a normal court procedure, not a favor you have to plead for.
- What it covers: ‘All necessary process and proceedings as in other cases, without fees, tax or charge as the court determines the person cannot pay’ – so filing fees and process, but only to the extent the court finds the person cannot pay; it is discretionary and can be partial. Guardian ad litem fees are expressly carved out of the legal-aid certification route and may be apportioned later (§ 514.040.3-.4). If judgment is entered for the plaintiff, § 514.040.1 provides that ‘costs shall be recovered, which shall be collected for the use of the officers of the court.’
- How it works: Leave to sue as a poor person. § 514.040.1 RSMo: ‘if any court shall, before or after the commencement of any suit pending before it, be satisfied that the plaintiff is a poor person, and unable to prosecute his or her suit, and pay all or any portion of the costs and expenses thereof, such court may, in its discretion, permit him or her to commence and prosecute his or her action as a poor person, and thereupon such poor person shall have all necessary process and proceedings as in other cases, without fees, tax or charge as the court determines the person cannot pay.’ There is also an automatic route: under § 514.040.3, where a party is represented by a legal aid society, a legal services or similar nonprofit funded substantially by the General Assembly, a law school clinic, or private counsel working under their auspices, ‘all costs and expenses, except guardian ad litem fees … may be waived without the necessity of a motion and court approval,’ provided the organization files a certification of inability to pay.
What we could not find out
Open questions on this page
- St. Louis County could not be reported. stlouiscountymo.gov returned HTTP 403 with an ‘Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue’ bot challenge on both the county root and the Circuit Court page, and the 21st Circuit’s pages are hosted on courts.mo.gov, which prohibits automated access. Clay County (7th Circuit) was substituted as a third verified circuit.
- No effective date is printed on the Greene County or Jackson County fee pages. The Jackson County PDF’s filename contains a date, but per instructions no date was inferred from a filename or URL path. Only Clay County prints an effective date (August 1, 2021).
- No statewide Missouri figure or statewide breakdown exists to confirm; the reported range is assembled from three individually verified circuit schedules, not from any single published source.
- The current Supreme Court-set amounts of the base clerk fee and the court automation fee we could not verified, because they are set by rule published on courts.mo.gov, which blocked automated access. The statutory pre-adjustment figures in § 488.012.3 are historical and were deliberately not presented as current.
- Mediation costs, e-filing surcharges, and parent-education class fees are not published in Missouri statute and we could not verified from any reachable official circuit source.
- Sources we could not read: https://www.courts.mo.gov/ (all pages tried, e.g. page.jsp?id=525, page.jsp?id=298, /hosted/circuit21/) – returned HTTP 403 with the text: ‘Access to any Missouri judicial website, including but not limited to Case.net, ; https://stlouiscountymo.gov/ and https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/circuit-court/ – HTTP 403, JavaScript/cookie bot challenge (‘Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue’). Not bypassed.
We would rather show you a blank than a plausible number. Everything above is a real limit on what Missouri’s own agencies publish, not an omission on our part.
How we know this
Every figure on this page came from a statute, a state court system, or a clerk’s own published fee schedule — never a law firm’s blog, a legal-forms company, or a fee aggregator. Where a state publishes no date on its fee schedule, we say so rather than implying the number is current. Where nothing is published, we leave it blank.
Court fees change, and they change without announcement. Confirm with your clerk before you write the check.
What people actually report paying
Everything above is the filing fee, traced to the statute. It is also the smallest number in a divorce. Here is the other side of it — and a warning about how to read it.
We read hundreds of public accounts from people who have been through it. Three findings held up across nearly all of them:
- The total is bimodal, not an average. Self-filers cluster around $300–$500. Anyone with two lawyers and a real disagreement clusters around $20,000–$30,000. Almost nobody reports the middle, so “the average divorce costs X” describes almost no actual divorce.
- Cost is driven by the other person’s conduct, not by how complicated your assets are. People with millions who agreed to split evenly reported paying filing fees only. People with one house and one child reported $45,000 because the case got dragged out.
- Every large surprise is a third professional. The guardian ad litem, the custody evaluator, the forensic accountant, the QDRO preparer — all billed separately from both lawyers, and often introduced by the court before anyone had budgeted for one.
These are anecdotes, not prices. People post about a divorce cost when the number shocked them, so the high figures are heavily over-represented and the ordinary divorce is nearly invisible. Every figure on the full page is labeled with how many people reported it.
See what people report paying →Know someone in Missouri staring at this number?
A straight answer about money is more useful than most advice, and it costs nothing to pass along. Nothing here asks for their real name, and nobody finds out they looked.
Now the part the fees don’t cover
The forms, the deadlines, the residency rule, and what actually happens next.
Or find someone to help
Missouri attorneys, mediators, CDFAs and therapists, credentials checked against the state’s own records. Nobody paid to be there.