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How much does it cost to file for divorce in West Virginia?
Filing for divorce in West Virginia costs $135 in every county. The figure is set in a single line of the circuit clerk's fee statute: W.Va. Code §59-1-11(a)(3) prices “instituting an action for divorce, separate maintenance, or annulment” at $135 — a deliberate discount from the $200 the same statute charges to open an ordinary civil case. Coming back later costs less still: a petition to modify an order on custody, visitation or support is $85, and an expedited child support modification is $35.
West Virginia divorce fees at a glance
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Instituting an action for divorce, separate maintenance or annulment (§59-1-11(a)(3)) | $135 |
| Petition to modify an order on custody, visitation, child or spousal support ((a)(4)) | $85 |
| Petition for expedited modification of a child support order ((a)(5)) | $35 |
| General civil action for comparison ((a)(1)) | $200 |
| Abstract of judgment ((b)(1)) | $5 |
| Transcript, copy or paper made by the clerk, per page ((b)(2)) | $1 / page |
| Issuing an execution ((b)(4)) | $25 |
| Each subpoena ((b)(9)) | $0.50 |
Every figure in the table is quoted from the official text of W.Va. Code §59-1-11 on the West Virginia Legislature's own code site, read at build time. Two structural points are worth understanding. First, the divorce discount is real and large: the general civil fee in subsection (a)(1) is $200 (with $30 directed to the Courthouse Facilities Improvement Fund, $45 to the Fund for Civil Legal Services for Low Income Persons and $20 to domestic violence legal services), while subsection (a)(3) has priced divorce, separate maintenance and annulment at $135 since July 1, 1999. Second, the $200 counterclaim fee in subsection (a)(6) expressly does not apply in family court cases, so a responding spouse in a divorce does not pay it. Divorce cases in West Virginia are filed with the circuit clerk and heard in the family court division. The national comparison is on the divorce filing costs hub and the wider state picture on the West Virginia court costs guide.
Residency, venue and grounds
West Virginia's divorce jurisdiction rules are in §48-5-105: a divorce action is filed in the county where the parties last lived as spouses, or where the respondent lives, or — where the petitioner is a resident and the respondent is not, or in the other configurations the statute lists — where the petitioner lives; at least one party must be a bona fide resident of the state for the action to lie, with a one-year residency requirement applying in the specific situation the statute describes where neither the marriage nor the grounds arose in West Virginia. The grounds are in §§48-5-201 and 48-5-202: irreconcilable differences, where both spouses agree the marriage is broken, and living separate and apart in separate homes without cohabitation for one uninterrupted year, which is available whether the separation was voluntary or not. Fault grounds, including cruel and inhuman treatment and adultery, are in the sections that follow. The ground pleaded does not change the $135 fee.
What happens after the $135
The petition opens the case in the circuit clerk's office and the case is assigned within the family court system, where most West Virginia divorces are actually heard. Parenting cases go through the parenting planning process the family court requires, and child support is calculated under the state's guidelines formula — documents and conferences inside the same case, not new fee events under §59-1-11. The later-life fees are the ones in the table: if circumstances change, modifying custody, visitation, child support or spousal support costs an $85 petition under (a)(4), and the narrower expedited route for child support alone costs $35 under (a)(5) — among the cheapest modification prices published anywhere on this site. Copies of the decree for benefits, school and records changes cost $1 per page under (b)(2), and there is no separate certification add-on in the schedule for ordinary copies.
How the case runs
- Check venue and residency under §48-5-105 and choose the ground (most agreed cases use irreconcilable differences under §48-5-201)
- File the divorce petition with the circuit clerk in the proper county, paying the statutory fee $135
- Serve the respondent; the case proceeds in the family court division
- Complete the parenting plan process if you have children, exchange financial information, and resolve property, support and custody terms
- The court enters the divorce decree; order copies of the decree for records changes $1 / page
Filing fee + service + publication + certified copies is the real number. Stack all four for your state and procedure in the calculator.
Open the cost calculatorWhat divorce really costs beyond the clerk
Section 59-1-11 prices the clerk's services only. Service of the petition is charged by the sheriff or process server who makes it (or avoided where the respondent accepts service), and is not in the statute, so this page does not price it. Mediation, where the family court orders or the parties choose it, is priced by the programme or mediator. Attorney fees are market-priced and are normally the largest cost in a contested West Virginia divorce. The clerk-side figures you can predict exactly are the statutory ones: $135 to file, $85 to petition to modify a custody or support order, $35 for an expedited child support modification, $5 for an abstract of judgment, $1 per page for copies, $25 to issue an execution and fifty cents for each subpoena. Compare neighbouring structures in Virginia divorce costs and Ohio divorce costs.
Can't afford the fee?
West Virginia provides for filers who cannot pay: a party may file an affidavit of inability to pay court costs, and if the court approves it the clerk's fees are waived for the case; Legal Aid of West Virginia publishes guidance and the courts' self-help materials include the affidavit. The fee statute itself acknowledges the low-income system it funds — $45 of every general civil filing goes to the Fund for Civil Legal Services for Low Income Persons. File the affidavit with the petition rather than after it, because the clerk cannot complete the filing until the fee question is decided. The general mechanics are explained in the fee waiver guide.
Sources: W.Va. Code §59-1-11 (official text, West Virginia Legislature, code.wvlegislature.gov), read at build time — (a)(3) divorce, separate maintenance or annulment $135; (a)(4) modification of custody, visitation or support order $85; (a)(5) expedited child support modification $35; (a)(1) general civil action $200; (a)(6) counterclaim fee inapplicable in family court cases; (b)(1) abstract of judgment $5; (b)(2) copies $1 per page; (b)(4) execution $25; (b)(9) subpoena $0.50 · W.Va. Code §§48-5-105 (venue/residency), 48-5-201–48-5-202 (grounds). Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the circuit clerk.