What a Wisconsin 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.
See a different stateWisconsin
It costs $273.00 to file for divorce in Wisconsin, or $293.00 where the petition requests support or maintenance. 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. Wisconsin’s divorce filing cost rose sharply on November 1, 2026. 2025 Wis. Act 179 raised every component: the filing fee from $75 to $130 (§ 814.61(1)(a)), the family court counseling services fee from $20 to $38 (§ 814.61(1)(b)), the court support services surcharge from $68 to $81 (§ 814.85(1)(a)), the justice information surcharge from $21.50 to $24 (§ 814.86(1)), the support or maintenance fee from $10 to $20 (§ 814.61(13)), the Milwaukee special prosecution surcharge from $3.50 to $7.50 (§ 814.86(1m)), the sheriff’s service fee from $12 to $33 (§ 814.70(1)), mediation after the first session from $200 to $285 and a custody study from $300 to $460 (§ 814.615(1)(a)). Anyone who filed before November 1 paid $184.50, or $194.50 with a support request.
The short version7 points · tap one to jump to it
- Where the money goes — Wisconsin publishes an unusually complete itemization.
- How it changes by county — The filing fee itself is uniform statewide because every component is fixed by statute.
- 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 — Wisconsin publishes an unusually complete itemization.
- How it changes by county — The filing fee itself is uniform statewide because every component is fixed by statute.
- 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
Wisconsin publishes an unusually complete itemization. The Director of State Courts’ statewide table effective November 1, 2026 gives, for ‘Family action – commence action, 814.61(1)(a) & (b)’ covering ‘divorce, annulment, legal separation’: ‘with no request for support or maintenance $273.00 – $130 filing fee, $81 CSS, $24 JINFO, $38 family court counseling services (FCCS) fee under 767.405, 814.61(1)(b)’; and ‘with request for support or maintenance $293.00 – $20 fee for parties not receiving public assistance 814.61(13)’. Every component above is quoted from either that table or the statute itself.
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Circuit court commencement fee (civil action)The official statewide fee table’s ‘Family action – commence action’ row itemizes this as ‘$130 filing fee’. The statute text before 2025 Wis. Act 179 reads: ‘at the commencement of all civil actions and special proceedings not specified in ss. 814.62 to 814.66, $75.’ Was $75 before 11-1-26; $130 from 11-1-26 under 2025 Wis. Act 179. Wis. Stat. § 814.61(1)(a) | $130.00 |
| Family court counseling services (FCCS) feeThis is the divorce-specific add-on. Statute text before 2025 Wis. Act 179: ‘in addition to the fee under par. (a), at the commencement of an action affecting the family as defined in s. 767.001 (1), a fee of $20 to be deposited by the county treasurer in a separate account to be used by the county exclusively for the purposes specified in s. 767.405’ (i.e. family court services / mediation). Was $20 before 11-1-26 (2025 Wis. Act 179). Wis. Stat. § 814.61(1)(b) | $38.00 |
| Court support services surcharge (CSS)Statute text before 2025 Wis. Act 179: the clerk ‘shall charge and collect a $68 court support services surcharge from any person … paying a fee under s. 814.61 (1) (a).’ The fee table footnote confirms: ‘CSS = court support services surcharge, 814.85: $61 for claims $10,000 or less, $202 for claims over $10,000, $81 for claims other than money judgments’ – divorce falls in the $81 bracket. Was $68 before 11-1-26 (2025 Wis. Act 179). Wis. Stat. § 814.85(1)(a) | $81.00 |
| Justice information system surcharge (JINFO)Statute text before 2025 Wis. Act 179: the clerk ‘shall charge and collect a $21.50 justice information system surcharge from any person … paying a fee under s. 814.61 (1) (a).’ Was $21.50 before 11-1-26 (2025 Wis. Act 179). Wis. Stat. § 814.86(1) | $24.00 |
| Additional fee if the petition requests child support, family support or maintenanceOfficial fee table: ‘with request for support or maintenance $293.00 … $20 fee for parties not receiving public assistance 814.61(13)’. Was $10 before 11-1-26 (2025 Wis. Act 179). Not charged to parties receiving public assistance. Wis. Stat. § 814.61(13) | $20.00 |
| Milwaukee County special prosecution clerks surchargeMilwaukee County only. Fee table footnote: ‘for fees that include the JINFO, add $7.50 in Milwaukee.’ Was $3.50 before 11-1-26 (2025 Wis. Act 179). Wis. Stat. § 814.86(1m) | $7.50 |
How it changes by county
The filing fee itself is uniform statewide because every component is fixed by statute. Three things do vary by county: (1) Milwaukee County alone adds the $7.50 special prosecution clerks surcharge under Wis. Stat. § 814.86(1m), which the state fee table records as ‘add $7.50 in Milwaukee’; (2) mediation and custody-study fees, where § 814.615(2) lets a county ‘establish a fee schedule to recover its reasonable costs of providing family court services’ in lieu of the $285/$460 statutory figures; and (3) sheriff’s service fees, where § 814.705(1)(a) provides that ‘A county board may establish a higher fee for collection by the sheriff.’
The published range
$273.00 – $280.50 for the filing fee itself (the $273.00 base, plus $7.50 in Milwaukee County), before the $20 support/maintenance fee and any e-filing fee across the counties we were able to confirm from official sources.
| County | Published fee | Schedule dated |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee County | $7.50 special prosecution clerks surcharge on top of the otherwise-uniform statewide fee | no date printedofficial 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.
What it costs to file it electronically
- Portal fee
- $35 per filer per case, effective May 2024, per the Wisconsin Court System circuit court eFiling FAQ. Statutory exemptions from the eFiling fee include Wisconsin state or local government unit filers, court-appointed counsel, guardians ad litem, State Public Defender-assigned counsel, and petitioners in restraining order cases. § 801.18 also states the fee "shall not be charged to Wisconsin state or local government units."
This sits on top of the filing fee above, and a percentage surcharge on a few hundred dollars is not small. Whether you have to e-file at all is on the Wisconsin kit.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Service of process by sheriff, per respondentStatute text before 2025 Wis. Act 179: ‘For each service or attempted service of a summons or any other process for commencement of an action … $12 for each defendant or person. If there is more than one defendant or person to be served at a given address, $6 for each additional defendant or person.’ These rose to $33 and $17 on 11-1-26 under 2025 Wis. Act 179; the court fee table lists sheriff fees only as varying, so confirm the amount with your county sheriff. Important caveat: § 814.705(1)(a) provides that ‘A county board may establish a higher fee for collection by the sheriff,’ so the statutory figure is a floor, not a ceiling, and your county may charge more. Wis. Stat. § 814.70(1); higher local fees authorized by Wis. Stat. § 814.705(1)(a) | $33.00 for the first person, $17.00 for each additional person at the same address (county may set higher) |
| Parenting/parent-education class, if requiredNOT mandatory statewide, even with minor children – it is discretionary. § 767.401(1)(a): ‘the court, ON ITS OWN MOTION, MAY order the parties to attend a program specified by the court concerning the effects on a child of a dissolution of the marriage.’ Such a program ‘shall be educational rather than therapeutic in nature and may not exceed a total of 4 hours in length,’ and ‘The parties shall be responsible for the cost, if any, of attendance.’ The court may make attendance at a subsec. (1) program a condition of granting final judgment (§ 767.401(1)(d)), but may NOT do so for a subsec. (2) parenting class (§ 767.401(2)(b)). No dollar amount is published in statute. Where interspousal battery or domestic abuse is alleged, the court may not require the parties to attend together or at the same time. Wis. Stat. § 767.401(1) and (2) | not published |
| Court-ordered mediationOfficial fee table: ‘mediation fee, 814.615(1)(a)1. & 2. $285 – $285 or local fee, first session free, under 767.405(5).’ It was $200 before 11-1-26. A separate custody/placement STUDY under § 814.615(1)(a)3. and § 767.405(14) costs $460 (was $300), listed on the same table as ‘study re legal custody & physical placement, 814.615(1)(a)3. $460 – $460 or local fee.’ Counties may substitute their own cost-recovery schedule under § 814.615(2), but must keep the first mediation session free and must base other charges on ability to pay. Under § 814.615(1)(b) and (3), the county ‘shall reduce the fees in accordance with the parties’ ability to pay or provide the services without payment of the fees if both parties are unable to pay,’ with the county taking a judgment for the amount instead. Wis. Stat. § 814.615(1)(a)1.-2.; local alternative under § 814.615(2) | First session free; $285.00 for all mediation after the first session (a single fee regardless of the number of sessions), or a local fee schedule instead |
| E-filing or credit-card surchargeNote 6 of the official statewide table: ‘Electronically filed cases are subject to a fee of $35 per case per party, $70 for attorney-mediators.’ The family-action rows are flagged with the ‘e’ marker meaning ‘For electronically filed cases, add $35 per case per party unless exemptions apply.’ The table cites no statute for this charge. Note that this is charged PER PARTY, so an e-filing respondent pays it too. It is waived where a § 814.29(1) waiver of costs and fees is granted. | $35.00 per case per party ($70.00 for attorney-mediators) |
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.
Wisconsin has a way to file without paying up front
This is a normal court procedure, not a favor you have to plead for.
- Who qualifies: The court MUST find poverty and issue the order if the affidavit demonstrates any of the following (§ 814.29(1)(d)): (1) the person receives means-tested public assistance, ‘including aid to families with dependent children, relief funded by a relief block grant under ch. 49, relief provided by counties under s. 59.53 (21), medical assistance, supplemental security income, food stamps or benefits received by veterans under s. 45.40 (1m) or under 38 USC 1501 to 1562’; (2) the person is represented by an attorney through a legal services program for indigent persons, the state public defender, or a volunteer attorney program based on indigency; or (3) the person is ‘otherwise unable, because of poverty, to pay the costs,’ in which case ‘the court shall consider the person’s household size, income, expenses, assets and debts and the federal poverty guidelines under 42 USC 9902 (2).’ No fixed income percentage is specified in the statute.
- What it covers: Security for costs, and ‘any service or fee’ – which on the face of § 814.29(1)(a) reaches the filing fee, the surcharges and service fees. The official statewide fee table separately confirms that e-filing and certain other charges are not collected ‘if motion for waiver of costs & fees granted under 814.29(1).’ The court may deny the request if it finds the affidavit ‘states no claim, defense or appeal upon which the court may grant relief’ (§ 814.29(1)(c)).
- How it works: Petition for waiver of fees and costs on grounds of poverty. Wis. Stat. § 814.29(1)(a): ‘any person may commence, prosecute or defend any action or special proceeding in any court … without being required to give security for costs or to pay any service or fee, upon order of the court based on a finding that because of poverty the person is unable to pay the costs of the action.’ The applicant files ‘an affidavit in the form prescribed by the judicial conference, setting forth briefly the nature of the cause, defense or appeal and facts demonstrating his or her poverty’ (§ 814.29(1)(b)). Every clerk of court is required to post a notice that the application is available for indigent parties.
What we could not find out
Open questions on this page
- The Milwaukee County total is not published anywhere as a single figure; only the $7.50 add-on is published. No total was computed for it beyond stating the add-on.
- The fee table effective November 1, 2026 now prints the totals ($273.00 and $293.00), so we quote them rather than adding the pieces ourselves.
- No statute is cited by the courts for the $35 e-filing fee on the official fee table, so the authority for that charge is unconfirmed.
- No dollar amount exists for the parenting/education program under § 767.401 – the statute makes the parties responsible for ‘the cost, if any’ without setting one.
We would rather show you a blank than a plausible number. Everything above is a real limit on what Wisconsin’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 Wisconsin 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
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin. Every figure is quoted from Wisconsin’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Common questions about filing costs in Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin?
$273 – $293 to open the case. What the court actually publishes is $273 – $293. Every figure on this page is traced to Wisconsin’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 Wisconsin county?
Almost. Wisconsin sets the filing fee statewide, so it is the same whichever county you file in: $273, or $293 where the petition requests support or maintenance. The one county difference is Milwaukee County, which adds a $7.50 surcharge to either.
Is the filing fee the whole cost of a divorce in Wisconsin?
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 Wisconsin?
There is a process for asking the court to waive or defer it, and this page sets out what Wisconsin requires. You do not have to have decided anything, or have a lawyer, to ask.
How current is this Wisconsin 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.