Home › Divorce filing costs › Hawaii

How much does it cost to file for divorce in Hawaii?

Filing a Complaint for Divorce in Hawaii costs $215 if neither spouse has minor children, and $265 if either spouse does. The Hawaii State Judiciary publishes the build-up on its own divorce packets: a $100 filing fee, a $65 surcharge and a $50 computer system surcharge, with a further $50 parent education surcharge added whenever minor children are involved. The schedule is uniform across all four circuits — Honolulu, Maui, Hawaii Island and Kauai all charge the same — and motions filed later in the case carry no additional fee.

Hawaii divorce fees at a glance

Every figure in the table comes from the Hawaii State Judiciary's published court filing fees, as printed on the Judiciary's own divorce packets (the Divorce With Children Packet states the stack line by line: $100.00 initial filing fee, +$65.00 surcharge, +$50.00 computer system surcharge, total $215.00, plus the $50.00 parent education surcharge for a $265.00 total with children). Note the trigger for the higher total: the packet states the parent education surcharge applies if either party has children from this marriage or any prior relationship, so a couple with no children together can still owe $265. The surcharge funds the mandatory parent education programme — Kids First on Oahu — that divorcing parents must attend. The national comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the wider state picture on the Hawaii court costs guide.

Residency: three months to file, six months to finish

Hawaii's residency rule, Haw. Rev. Stat. §580-1, works in two stages. A spouse may file after being domiciled or physically present in Hawaii, and in the circuit of filing, for at least three continuous months immediately before filing. But the court cannot grant the divorce until one spouse has been domiciled or physically present in the state for at least six continuous months immediately before the application. In practice most filers simply wait until the six-month mark is close, because a case filed at month three sits waiting for the clock anyway. Hawaii is a no-fault state in substance: under §580-41 the court grants a divorce when it finds the marriage irretrievably broken, and the statute also recognises living separate and apart under a decree of separation, and living separate and apart for two years with no reasonable likelihood of resuming cohabitation. There is no separate mandatory waiting period after filing once residency is satisfied.

What the $215 does and does not buy

The complaint must be signed and sworn, and is filed with the Family Court of the circuit where the filer meets the residency test, together with the Matrimonial Action Information form and income and expense statements from both sides as the case proceeds. The responding spouse has 20 days after service to answer under the Hawaii Family Court Rules. One feature that keeps Hawaii's later costs predictable is printed on the Judiciary's packet itself: motions in a divorce case carry no fee, so requests for temporary orders on custody, support or use of the home do not each add a filing charge the way they do in many mainland states. Cases can also be filed electronically through the Judiciary Electronic Filing and Service System (JEFS) by registered users, but the fee stack is identical either way. Uncontested cases with complete paperwork can be decided by affidavit without a hearing; contested cases go to a judge.

How the case runs

1. Confirm the residency clocks under HRS §580-1 (three months in the circuit to file; six months in the state before the decree)
2. Complete the Complaint for Divorce and Matrimonial Action Information form and file them with the Family Court clerk, paying the fee stack $215 / $265
3. Serve your spouse; the response is generally due 20 days after service
4. Exchange income and expense and asset and debt statements, and complete the parent education programme if you have minor children
5. Submit the proposed Divorce Decree by agreement or after a hearing; the marriage ends when the judge signs the decree

What divorce really costs beyond the clerk

The Judiciary's schedule prices the filing; it does not price service of the complaint, which is charged by the sheriff or process server who makes it, so this page does not invent a figure for it — the Family Court Service Center in your circuit can tell you the current options. Mediation through community mediation centres is priced by the centre. Attorney fees are market-priced and are normally the largest cost in a contested Hawaii divorce, particularly where inter-island travel is involved. The clerk-side figures you can predict exactly are the ones on the Judiciary schedule: $215 to file without minor children, $265 with them, no fee for motions, and the same schedule's $215 for adoption and guardianship filings, $265 for paternity and $130 for UCCJEA or miscellaneous family filings. Compare Pacific and western structures in California divorce costs and Alaska divorce costs.

Can't afford the fee?

Hawaii allows a filer who cannot pay to ask the court to waive the filing fees and surcharges by ex parte motion and declaration under Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 607, setting out income, assets, debts and dependents; the Judiciary's divorce packets direct filers who cannot afford the fees to the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii or to that waiver motion. If the court grants the request, the case opens without the $215 or $265 payment. File the waiver request with the complaint rather than after it, because the clerk cannot complete the filing until the fee question is resolved. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Hawaii State Judiciary, Court Filing Fees schedule and Divorce With Children Packet (courts.state.hi.us) — initial filing fee $100, surcharge $65, computer system surcharge $50, total $215 without children; parent education surcharge $50, total $265 with children; motions no fee; adoption and guardianship $215; paternity $265; UCCJEA/miscellaneous $130 · Haw. Rev. Stat. §§580-1 (residency), 580-41 (grounds) · Hawaii Family Court Rules (20-day answer). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the Family Court clerk of your circuit.