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How much does it cost to file for divorce in North Dakota?

Filing for divorce in North Dakota costs $160 in every county. Section 27-05.2-03 of the North Dakota Century Code sets a single fee for filing a summons and complaint — or summons and petition — in district court, and the North Dakota Court System's own fee pages confirm that the $160 covers divorce expressly, along with separation, parenting responsibility, adoption, paternity, guardianship, conservatorship, probate and eviction. Your spouse's answer costs $100, and coming back later to modify the judgment costs another $160 motion fee. There are no county add-ons to decode.

North Dakota divorce fees at a glance

Every figure in the table is stated on the North Dakota Court System's Legal Self Help Center pages, which quote §27-05.2-03 directly: filing a summons and complaint or petition in district court, “including (but not limited to) divorce, separation, parenting responsibility, adoption, paternity, guardianship, conservatorship, informal and formal probate, and eviction,” is $160; answering is $100; a motion to modify an order for spousal support, property division, child support, parental rights and responsibilities, residential responsibility (custody) or parenting time is $160, and answering that motion is $100. Because one statute prices the whole civil docket, North Dakota divorce costs exactly what a North Dakota probate or eviction costs to open — a structure few states share. The national comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the wider state picture on the North Dakota court costs guide. The custody side of the same fee is broken out on the North Dakota custody costs page.

Residency and grounds

Under N.D.C.C. §14-05-17, the filing spouse must have been a resident of North Dakota for six months immediately before filing — or the judgment can wait until the six months have run. North Dakota's grounds are listed in §14-05-03 and include the no-fault ground of irreconcilable differences alongside fault grounds such as adultery, extreme cruelty, wilful desertion and neglect. The ground pleaded does not change the fee. North Dakota divides marital property equitably under §14-05-24, and where children are involved the judgment must also settle residential responsibility and parenting time under chapter 14-09 and child support under the state's guidelines — all inside the same $160 case. The Legal Self Help Center publishes complete divorce form sets for cases with and without children, including the summons, complaint, settlement agreement and proposed findings and judgment used in agreed cases.

Agreed cases and the settlement route

North Dakota is built for stipulated divorces: spouses who agree on everything file the summons and complaint with a signed settlement agreement and confidential property and debt listing, and many agreed cases are decided on the papers without a hearing. That matters for cost because the only clerk-side charges in an agreed case are typically the $160 filing fee and, if the respondent files a formal answer rather than admitting service, the $100 answer fee. Contested cases add the priced motions in the table — a motion to modify an existing order is $160 — but ordinary motions within the original divorce are not separately priced on the Court System's published list, so the clerk-side total stays low. Service of the summons and complaint is the main non-clerk cost at the start, and it is charged by the sheriff or process server who makes it, not by §27-05.2-03.

How the case runs

1. Confirm six months of North Dakota residency under §14-05-17
2. Complete the summons and complaint using the Legal Self Help Center's divorce form set and file them with the district court clerk, paying the filing fee $160
3. Serve your spouse, or file their admission of service in an agreed case; a formal answer costs $100
4. Exchange financial information and file the settlement agreement, or litigate the contested issues of property, support and parenting
5. Submit the proposed findings of fact and judgment; the divorce is final when the judge signs the judgment

What divorce really costs beyond the clerk

The statute prices the court's filings, not the rest of the case. Service is charged by the sheriff or process server and is not in §27-05.2-03, so this page does not price it. Mediation of parenting disputes, which North Dakota courts can order, is priced under the programme handling it. Attorney fees are market-priced and are normally the largest cost in a contested North Dakota divorce. The clerk-side figures you can predict exactly are the statutory ones: $160 to file, $100 to answer, $160 to move to modify the judgment later and $100 to answer that motion — and, for scale, $20 to file a small claims affidavit under the same section. Compare neighbouring structures in Minnesota divorce costs and South Dakota divorce costs.

Can't afford the fee?

The North Dakota Court System publishes filing fee waiver forms through the Legal Self Help Center: a written request, with instructions and financial forms, asking the district court to waive the fee for a filer whose income and expenses show they cannot pay. The Court System's fee waiver page states the test plainly — you may be eligible if you do not make much money or have a lot of expenses, and if the court grants the waiver you do not have to pay the filing fee. File the request with the complaint rather than after it. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: North Dakota Court System, Legal Self Help Center — Filing Fee Waiver page and North Dakota Court Fee Schedule, quoting N.D.C.C. §27-05.2-03 (summons and complaint/petition in district court, including divorce, $160; answer $100; motion to modify $160; answer to motion to modify $100; small claims affidavit $20) (ndcourts.gov) · N.D.C.C. §§14-05-03 (grounds), 14-05-17 (six-month residency), 14-05-24 (property division). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the district court clerk.