Home › Restraining & protective order costs
How much does a restraining order cost?
For the person asking for protection, usually nothing. In the states below, the law forbids charging the applicant a fee to file a domestic-violence protective order — and in Texas and California it forbids charging for service and certified copies too. The exceptions in this guide are the order types that sit outside the domestic-violence statutes.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911 first. Cost questions come after safety. Court clerks and local domestic-violence advocates will help you file, free, and can explain safety planning and address confidentiality.
What the applicant pays, by state and order type
| State | Order type | Applicant's cost |
|---|---|---|
| California | Domestic violence restraining order (request, modification, enforcement, response) | No fee — Fam. Code §6222 |
| California | Elder or dependent adult abuse restraining order | No fee |
| California | Civil harassment order involving violence, threats, or stalking | No fee |
| California | Civil harassment order (all other cases) | $435 first-paper fee |
| Texas | Protective order (family violence, dating violence, stalking, sexual assault) | No fee of any kind — Tex. Fam. Code §81.002 |
| New York | Family offense petition / order of protection, Family Court | No fee — Family Court charges no filing fees |
| Washington | Antiharassment protection order petition | $53 filing fee (RCW 36.18.020) |
Texas is the most explicit: no fee for anything
Texas Family Code §81.002 lists what a clerk, sheriff, constable, or any other public official may not charge an applicant in connection with a protective order: fees for filing, for serving the order, for certifying copies, for comparing copies, a court reporter fee, a judicial fund fee, a fee to dismiss, modify, or withdraw the order, a transfer fee — “or for any other service.” The statute instead contemplates the costs being assessed against the respondent when an order is granted.
Why so many states charge $0
The federal Violence Against Women Act conditions certain federal grant funding on states not charging victims for filing, issuance, or service of protection orders. Most states have written the rule directly into their fee statutes, which is why a domestic-violence order is free even in states — like California — where almost every other family-law filing costs $435.
Costs that can still appear
Order types outside the protective statutes. A general civil injunction or a civil-harassment case with no violence or stalking allegation is filed like any other civil case (in California, the $435 first-paper fee above). Your own optional costs. An attorney, if you hire one, is your expense; the court's fee is separate. Enforcement across state lines carries no filing fee for registering a foreign protection order in the states whose schedules we read — and federal law requires every state to enforce a valid order from another state.
Can't afford the fee that does apply?
For order types that carry a fee, the fee waiver guide explains how waiver applications work. Do not let a fee question delay filing in a safety case: clerks can start the paperwork while a waiver is decided.
Sources: California Statewide Civil Fee Schedule (Judicial Council, effective January 1, 2026), rows 39–44 and 105 — Fam. Code §6222, Gov. Code §70617(b)(7) · Tex. Fam. Code §81.002 and ch. 110 — Texas Legislature · New York Courts — Family Court Case Basics · RCW 36.18.020 (Washington Legislature). Researched October 2026 — confirm current figures with the court clerk.
State figures: see each state guide for its named official source.