Costs
What doesa divorce cost?
No timesheet decides the amount, a single figure does: the Verfahrenswert (value of the proceedings). The family court sets it, and it follows above all from the couple's joint net income. Court and attorney fees are then read off fixed tables.
The
calculator
Your personal estimate
A first order of magnitude from your entries: value of the proceedings, court and attorney fees according to the statutory fee tables. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, no data is transmitted.
Note: without a net income, the statutory minimum value in dispute is applied. The amounts shown then correspond to the minimum cost of a divorce.
- Value in dispute€3,000.00
- Court costs (2.0 fee)€251.00
- Lawyer costs (1 lawyer, incl. VAT)€724.41
- Estimated total costs (divorce)€975.41
- Children considered (income reduction)
- Note: court costs usually split in half (§ 150 FamFG)
Assumptions: OLG Frankfurt (Hessen). The court values (children, assets) are discretionary decisions of individual panels (§ 43 FamGKG) and may differ in individual cases.
Free and without obligation
The estimate and a first assessment cost you nothing.
No data transmitted
The calculation runs in your browser alone.
Statutory tables
Figures under RVG and FamGKG, valid throughout Germany.
Basis
How the value of the proceedings arises
The starting point is three times the couple's joint monthly net income, § 43 FamGKG. That figure is not negotiable.
Example · each spouse with a net income of €3,000
What counts for the pension entitlements is the duration of the marriage. It runs from the month of the wedding to the end of the month before the divorce petition is served, § 3 (1) VersAusglG.
The law draws a line in both directions: the court does not go below the statutory minimum, and the value of the divorce itself is capped at the top, § 43 FamGKG.
What the value of the proceedings actually costs
Both kinds of cost are read off fixed tables that apply throughout Germany. The court fee for the divorce is twice the value-based fee from the FamGKG table (no. 1110 KV FamGKG); no VAT is charged on court fees.
The attorney's fee follows the same principle under the RVG table. Customary are a 1.3 procedural fee and a 1.2 hearing fee (nos. 3100, 3104 VV RVG), plus a flat expense allowance and statutory VAT (nos. 7002, 7008 VV RVG). If each side instructs its own attorney, the attorney's fees arise twice.
Only the court sets the value of the proceedings. Every estimate, ours included, is a guide, not a promise.
When money
is tight
Legal aid for court proceedings
Nobody stays married for cost reasons. If income and assets are not sufficient, the state treasury covers the costs of the proceedings, either fully or against interest-free instalments, § 76 FamFG in conjunction with §§ 114 ff. ZPO. The application (Verfahrenskostenhilfe) is filed together with the divorce petition at the family court.
Saving
How to bring your costs down
The biggest lever is in your own hands: agreement. Every point you settle in advance, maintenance, assets or custody, drops out as a matter in dispute and pushes the value of the proceedings down.
Often a single attorney is enough. If both of you agree, it is sufficient for one spouse to file the petition and the other to consent. The second attorney's fee then falls away almost entirely, because only the petitioning side must be represented, § 114 (1) FamFG. Representation then covers only the person who instructed the attorney, a point the economically weaker side in particular should know.
Provision made before a notary saves the expensive route through the court later. A Scheidungsfolgenvereinbarung (divorce settlement agreement) can settle maintenance, accrued gains and household goods bindingly in advance. What stays outside the divorce proceedings does not raise the value of those proceedings, § 137 FamFG.
Not every income counts the same way. For the self-employed the court usually takes a multi-year average; for civil servants their pension scheme counts instead of a state pension. Professional pension schemes are treated separately in the pension rights adjustment, and very small entitlements stay out of it below a de minimis threshold, § 18 VersAusglG.
Is an online divorce cheaper? Not in terms of fees. The statutory rates under RVG and FamGKG apply throughout Germany, whether you sit at our table or everything runs by video and email. What you save is travel, time and nerves, not the fee.
Frequent
questions
What we are asked about costs
Can we split the costs between us?
In an uncontested divorce one attorney is enough, and both sides can share those fees proportionally. The law knows no fixed duty to halve them; how they are divided is for the spouses to agree. Court costs in an uncontested divorce are regularly set off against each other, that is, shared, § 150 FamFG.
What if I cannot afford the divorce?
Have legal aid checked, and do it early. Where income and assets are low, the state treasury covers the costs fully or against interest-free instalments, § 76 FamFG in conjunction with §§ 114 ff. ZPO. Whether the requirements are met, we settle in the first consultation.
What do the costs depend on most?
On the value of the proceedings. It is carried above all by the joint net income and by the number of open points in dispute. The more you settle in advance, the smaller the bill stays.
What does a divorce with a property in Frankfurt cost?
As soon as the division of the property becomes contested, its market value flows into the value of the proceedings and lifts the fees noticeably. If the property is undisputed, or you settle it before a notary in advance, its value stays out.
Can we settle anything before the divorce?
Yes, and the earlier the better. A notarized divorce settlement agreement or an out-of-court settlement takes the most expensive conflicts out of the later proceedings. What already stands does not have to be valued by the court.
Contact
You do not have to take the first step alone
Tell us about your situation. We reply personally, usually within one working day.