New Jersey Divorce Cost Estimator

Divorce in New Jersey

Property system, in our record

Equitable distribution

Filing fee

$300

Waiting period

None

Residency requirement

365 days

Uncontested cost range

$2,500 - $7,000

Attorney hourly rate

$300/hr - $600/hr

Divorce Cost Estimator in New Jersey: What You Should Know

New Jersey carries one of the higher attorney rate ranges in our data at $300 to $600 an hour, and that is a state-wide figure rather than a Bergen or Essex County one. New Jersey's court rules send the money side of a contested divorce to mediation after the Early Settlement Panel, and R. 5:5-6(b) says litigants shall be required to participate for no more than two hours unless good cause is shown why the matter should not be referred. R. 1:40-5(b)(1) stops the referral in two situations. No matter goes to mediation while a temporary restraining order under the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act is in effect. Where a final restraining order is in effect, the parties may take part in the Domestic Violence Economic Mediation program only with the consent of the victim. The required two hours are one hour of the mediator's preparation and one hour of session, and R. 5:5-6(b) says litigants who take a mediator from the statewide approved list will not be charged a fee for them. Anything after the first two hours is voluntary. A mediator the parties choose from outside the list may negotiate a fee and need not give the two hours free. That is why this estimate adds no mediator fee to a contested New Jersey case rather than treating the requirement as a cost: the part the rules compel is free where the mediator comes off the court roster, and everything past it is a choice. If you carry on beyond the two hours, price the extra sessions yourself and add them. Our own figure for a New Jersey session, if you go past the free two hours, is about $325. We read R. 5:5-6(b) in the Supreme Court's 2015 omnibus rule amendment order, R. 1:40-4(b) in the 2017 order and R. 1:40-5(b)(1) in the 2023 order amending it, all from the New Jersey State Library archive on 2026-08-28, and each of those orders prints the rule's own amendment history. njcourts.gov refused this site for the third time the same day, so the current consolidated rules have not been rendered here and Appendix XXVI, which the fee terms are made subject to, has not been read at all. New Jersey's dense population and high household incomes mean a high proportion of New Jersey divorces involve complex assets (investment portfolios, business interests, multi-property real estate) that push a case toward the top of our $16,000 to $65,000 contested range.