What a Montana 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 $170.00 to file for divorce in Montana. 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. Montana charges nearly double to end a marriage than to file any other civil case — $170 versus $90 — and the statute says exactly where the premium goes: § 25-1-201(3)(a) earmarks $30 to the partner and family member assault intervention and treatment fund, $19 to civil legal assistance for indigent domestic violence victims, and $5 to the children’s trust fund. The offsetting surprise is that if the judge orders you into a parenting education class, YOU don’t pay for it: § 40-4-226(2) requires that the program’s cost ‘must be paid by the state.’
The short version7 points · tap one to jump to it
- Where the money goes — It allocates $54 of the $170 to three named funds.
- Does it change by county? — The $170 dissolution filing fee is fixed by state statute and is identical in every Montana district court — clerks of district court are county officers but collect the statutorily set amount, and § 25-1-201(2) routes the money to the state general fund.
- What the filing fee does not cover — The filing fee is usually the smallest predictable number in a divorce.
- If you cannot afford to file — More people qualify than apply.
- What we could not find out
- How we know this — Where nothing is published, we leave it blank.
- What people actually report paying — Here is the other side of it — and a warning about how to read it.
In this subject 7
Where the money goes
The short version7 points · tap one to jump to it
- Where the money goes — It allocates $54 of the $170 to three named funds.
- Does it change by county? — The $170 dissolution filing fee is fixed by state statute and is identical in every Montana district court — clerks of district court are county officers but collect the statutorily set amount, and § 25-1-201(2) routes the money to the state general fund.
- What the filing fee does not cover — The filing fee is usually the smallest predictable number in a divorce.
- If you cannot afford to file — More people qualify than apply.
- What we could not find out
- How we know this — Where nothing is published, we leave it blank.
- What people actually report paying — Here is the other side of it — and a warning about how to read it.
In this subject 7
This is a genuine published breakdown, but read it precisely: § 25-1-201(3)(a) is a DISTRIBUTION provision, not a fee-stacking provision. It allocates $54 of the $170 to three named funds. The statute does NOT itemize the remaining $116, which falls under the general rule in § 25-1-201(2) that fees ‘must be deposited in the state general fund as specified by the supreme court administrator.’ No portion beyond the stated $54 has been invented or apportioned.
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Earmark — children’s trust fund account Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(3)(a), depositing to the account established in § 52-7-102 | $5.00 |
| Earmark — civil legal assistance for indigent victims of domestic violence accountNon-dissolution civil filings carry only a $9 deposit to this same account under § 25-1-201(5); dissolution filers pay $19. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(3)(a), depositing to the account established in § 3-2-714 | $19.00 |
| Earmark — partner and family member assault intervention and treatment fundThis earmark exists ONLY for dissolution and legal separation petitions. It is the single largest dissolution-specific component. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(3)(a), depositing to the fund established in § 40-15-110 | $30.00 |
Does it change by county?
No — the fee is the same everywhere in Montana
The $170 dissolution filing fee is fixed by state statute and is identical in every Montana district court — clerks of district court are county officers but collect the statutorily set amount, and § 25-1-201(2) routes the money to the state general fund. IMPORTANT CAVEAT: an adjacent divorce cost DOES vary by county. Sheriff service of the summons and complaint is charged at whatever rate ‘set by the county governing body’ under § 7-32-2141(1), with the $5 statutory figure applying only ‘if fees have not been set by the county governing body.’ So the filing fee is uniform while service cost is county-set.
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 Montana 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 Montana kit.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Respondent’s appearance fee‘from each defendant or respondent, on appearance, $60.’ The responding spouse pays this to participate — an easily missed second filing cost. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(b) | $60.00 |
| Entry of judgment fee‘on the entry of judgment, from the prevailing party, $50.’ Charged at the end of the case, not at filing. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(c) | $50.00 |
| Sheriff service of summons and complaint, per defendant/respondentThe statute is explicit that county rates control: ‘the sheriff shall receive the fees, if any, set by the county governing body. If fees have not been set by the county governing body, the sheriff shall receive the following: (a) for the service of summons and complaint on each defendant, $5.’ Subsection (1)(b) adds $5 plus actual mileage traveled for a return where the person is not found in the county. Most counties have adopted their own higher rates; those adopted rates were NOT verified for any specific county, so the only figure quoted here is the statutory default. Mont. Code Ann. § 7-32-2141(1)(a) and (1)(b) | set by the county governing body; statutory default $5.00 per defendant, plus actual mileage |
| Court-sanctioned parenting education program on the effects of dissolution on childrenNOT automatically mandatory, and NOT paid by the filer. Under § 40-4-226(1) the court ‘shall inform the parties … of available educational programs’ and, ‘if the court finds that it would be in the best interest of the minor child, shall order the parties to attend a court-sanctioned program.’ Under § 40-4-226(2), ‘The cost of implementing the court-sanctioned educational program for each district court … must be paid by the state as provided in 3-5-901. Costs may include parenting evaluation and guardian ad litem services.’ Mont. Code Ann. § 40-4-226 | $0.00 to the parties |
| Petition for a CONTESTED amendment of a final parenting planWaived entirely if the moving party files a statement signed by the nonmoving party agreeing not to contest the amendment, filed at the same time as the petition — § 25-1-201(4). Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(a) and (4) | $120.00 |
| Certified copy of the dissolution decreeA copy of a marriage license is $5 by comparison. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(d)(ii) | $10.00 |
| Filing a pleading by facsimile or e-mailDeposited in the county district court fund under § 25-1-201(6). This is the only electronic-submission charge in the statute; no credit-card surcharge is published. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(r) | $0.50 per page |
| Petition for legal separation (comparison figure)Its earmarks under § 25-1-201(3)(b) are $5 children’s trust fund and $30 assault intervention fund — it does NOT carry the $19 civil legal assistance earmark that dissolution does. Mont. Code Ann. § 25-1-201(1)(a) | $150.00 |
| Court-ordered mediationNo mediation fee is published. The Montana Judicial Branch’s dissolution forms page references a ‘Motion to Request an Extension of Time to Complete Mediation for the Family Transition Project,’ indicating a court mediation track exists, but no fee for it appears on any official source located. | 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.
Montana 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: Filing fees and other court costs and fees. The same form serves District Court, Justice Court, and Municipal or City Court.
- What to ask for: Statement of Inability to Pay Court Costs and Fees (Fee Waiver Form)
- How it works: File the ‘Statement of Inability to Pay Court Costs and Fees’ (the Judicial Branch labels it the Fee Waiver Form / Request for Waiving Court Fees). It opens: ‘I have a good cause of action or defense but am unable to pay filing or other court fees. I request the court waive the costs and fees.’ It offers a categorical short path — check a box and skip the financial detail — if you are (a) represented by an entity providing free legal services to low-income persons, (b) represented by a volunteer/pro bono attorney and financially eligible for free legal services (attach a certificate of eligibility), or (c) receiving SNAP, TANF, SSI, Medicaid, WIC, or LIEAP. Otherwise you complete an income and expense section.
What we could not find out
Open questions on this page
- No effective date is PRINTED on the statute page. It carries the edition label ‘Montana Code Annotated 2025’ and an amendment history ending ‘amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 587, L. 2025,’ but neither is a printed effective date, so we give no effective date and have not inferred one from the edition year or the session law.
- The Montana Judicial Branch does not publish a statewide court fee schedule web page. courts.mt.gov’s Clerk of Court and Forms sections contain no fee table, so the $170 rests on the statute alone — which is an official legislature source, but means there is no court-side confirmation of the current collected amount.
- No specific county’s ADOPTED sheriff service fee was verified, so only the $5 statutory default is quoted. Real-world Montana service costs are almost certainly higher, but no official county figure was confirmed.
- No credit-card or e-filing surcharge is published; § 25-1-201(1)(r)’s 50 cents per page for fax/e-mail filing is the only electronic-submission charge in the statute.
- No court-ordered mediation fee published, despite the Family Transition Project mediation track being referenced on the Judicial Branch forms page.
- The statute page carries Montana’s own disclaimer: ‘The Internet version of the Montana Code Annotated is provided as a research tool… In case of inconsistencies resulting from omissions or other errors, the printed version will prevail.’
We would rather show you a blank than a plausible number. Everything above is a real limit on what Montana’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 Montana 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
Montana attorneys, mediators, CDFAs and therapists, credentials checked against the state’s own records. Nobody paid to be there.
The rest of what we have written about Montana. Every figure is quoted from Montana’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Common questions about filing costs in Montana
Short answers to what people ask most about this number. Everything here is drawn from the same sources as the figures above.
How much does it cost to file for divorce in Montana?
$170 to open the case. What the court actually publishes is $170.00. Every figure on this page is traced to Montana’s own statute or its courts’ published fee schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Is the divorce filing fee the same in every Montana county?
Yes. Montana sets the filing fee statewide, so the figure is the same whichever county you file in. It is $170.
Is the filing fee the whole cost of a divorce in Montana?
No, and it is the small number. The filing fee is what it costs to open the case. Serving the papers, any required parenting class, copies and certifications, an attorney if you use one, and the cost of running two households instead of one are all separate — and together they are many times larger. The sections above set out what this figure does and does not buy.
What if I cannot afford the filing fee in Montana?
There is a process for asking the court to waive or defer it, and this page sets out what Montana requires. You do not have to have decided anything, or have a lawyer, to ask.
How current is this Montana figure, and where does it come from?
It is quoted from the court’s own published schedule or the statute that sets it, with the date it was last checked shown on the page. Where a figure could not be confirmed from an official source, this site says so rather than estimating — and where a number could only be reached by arithmetic rather than read off a published schedule, it is left out rather than presented as published. That rule is why some rows here say “not published” instead of carrying a tidy figure, and it is the whole basis on which these pages can be reproduced. The full fifty-state comparison is at thecusp.app/divorce-costs/, free to reproduce under the license published there.
Choosing an agent for a divorce sale is a different problem from choosing one for an ordinary sale: who the agent is allowed to talk to, who has to sign, what happens when one of you will not, and the three separate conflicts of interest that come up when one spouse found the agent first. How to choose a real estate agent for a divorce sale sets out what to ask, and how to check a credential yourself — no divorce credential is official with the National Association of Realtors.
The Cusp receives a referral fee from agents it vets and trains to handle divorce clients.