Divorce & Family Law Attorney Fees by State

Divorce, child custody, alimony, adoption, and other family law matters. Fee ranges below are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 wage data for lawyers (SOC 23-1011), adjusted by practice area market data.

$2,500-$10,000
Typical retainer band
$60/hr
National median
$1,500+
Uncontested floor

Divorce & Family Law: uncontested floor vs contested ceiling

Hourly billing standard; flat fees common for uncontested divorces. Uncontested filings commonly publish flats from $1,500 to $3,500; contested matters stretch to $25,000 (16.7x span) and often move to hourly. Retainers for active family dockets open near $2,500-$10,000.

Pathway
Uncontested
$1,500-$3,500
National flat quote band
Pathway
Contested
$5,000-$25,000
Ceiling before hourly takeover

Uncontested divorce flat fee; contested divorces typically billed hourly

Divorce & Family Law wage-index anchors

Highest and lowest BLS-adjusted medians for divorce & family law - use these before opening a state hub. Retainer and flat bands above stay national; state pages apply the local wage index.

Highest medians

  1. Washington D.C. $87/hr
  2. New York $76/hr
  3. California $72/hr
  4. New Jersey $68/hr
  5. Massachusetts $66/hr

Lowest medians

  1. Mississippi $43/hr
  2. West Virginia $44/hr
  3. Arkansas $44/hr
  4. South Dakota $47/hr
  5. Kentucky $47/hr

All divorce & family law state hubs

Full jurisdiction index. Retainer and uncontested/contested bands above stay national; each hub scales by that state's BLS lawyer wage index.

DC $87/hr NY $76/hr CA $72/hr NJ $68/hr MA $66/hr MD $65/hr WA $64/hr CT $63/hr VA $63/hr DE $61/hr IL $61/hr CO $60/hr HI $60/hr AK $58/hr OR $58/hr PA $58/hr TX $58/hr MN $57/hr NH $57/hr RI $57/hr NV $55/hr AZ $54/hr GA $54/hr UT $54/hr MI $53/hr NC $52/hr OH $52/hr FL $51/hr ME $51/hr MO $51/hr VT $51/hr WI $51/hr NE $50/hr ID $49/hr IN $49/hr KS $49/hr LA $49/hr ND $49/hr TN $49/hr AL $48/hr IA $48/hr MT $48/hr NM $48/hr OK $48/hr SC $48/hr WY $48/hr KY $47/hr SD $47/hr AR $44/hr WV $44/hr MS $43/hr

Related practice areas

Divorce & Family Law fee figures use BLS OES 2024 (SOC 23-1011) plus ABA fee-survey matter norms. Estimates only, not quotes or legal advice. Source: BLS OES Lawyers (SOC 23-1011) Matter norms: ABA Law Practice Division publications; see methodology.