Divorce in Texas: Costs, Laws, and Calculators (2026)

Everything you need to understand the financial reality of divorce in Texas. State-specific costs, formulas, and free calculators.

Our estimate, uncontested
$2,000 - $5,500
Our estimate, contested
$15,000 - $50,000
Estimated timeline
3 - 14 months
DCE State Score
62 / 100

Texas divorces typically cost 21% less than the national average of $12,900.

Texas is a community property state with a 60-day mandatory waiting period and no-fault grounds.

Texas community property law means both spouses are presumed to own equal shares of all property acquired during the marriage, with separate property (owned before marriage or received as a gift or inheritance) excluded. Courts have discretion to divide community property "just and right" rather than strictly 50/50, which creates more variability than in some other community property states. Texas alimony, called "spousal maintenance," is awarded less readily than in most states: Tex. Fam. Code 8.051 has been read for this site, and it lets a court order maintenance only where the spouse asking for it will lack sufficient property on dissolution to provide for their minimum reasonable needs, and then only through one of four routes. The state has no income tax, which affects post-divorce financial planning significantly.

What this section says about Texas's property system is a characterisation this site carries rather than a finding. That is our own record rather than Texas's own law.

Key Fact

Tex. Fam. Code 8.055(a) caps spousal maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 a month and 20 percent of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income, and our calculator holds its Texas figures to it. Two things to know before you use that number. Above $300,000 a year of payer income the flat figure is the lower of the two, so it binds whatever the income question turns out to be. And the sentence limits what a court may order, not what two spouses may agree between themselves.

Recent Development

Texas updated its collaborative family law statutes effective September 2023, expanding the range of cases eligible for collaborative process and strengthening confidentiality protections for collaborative communications. The changes also clarify the process for transitioning out of collaborative process if it fails.

Texas Divorce Quick Facts

State law, attorney rates, and procedural rules for Texas.

Property division system, in our record
Community Property (50/50 default)
How alimony is decided, in our record
Formula with judicial discretion
Child support formula, in our record
Percentage of Income Model
Mandatory waiting period
60 days
Residency requirement
180 days
Mediation required, in our record
No
Equal parenting presumption, in our record
No
Fault divorce available, in our record
Yes
Collaborative divorce available
Yes, and our record says the same for all fifty states
Filing fee range
$250 - $350
Attorney hourly rates, our estimate
$250 - $500/hour
Filing fee last checked
Not independently verified

Where these Texas figures come from, since it is fair to ask. The court filing fee is the one we have gone back to, and even there we are recording what a fee schedule says rather than citing a document we have opened. Everything else on this page that is a cost or a length of time - attorney rates, the mediator's per-session rate, QDRO preparation, the average totals, the typical number of months - came into our data when the site was first built, and nobody has checked any of it against a published source since. Our own value distributions give the game away: attorney rates across all fifty states take seven distinct values at the low end, every one of them a multiple of 25, which is what a set of estimates looks like rather than fifty separate readings. We think they are in the right neighbourhood. We are not going to call them Texas averages. For a real number, a Texas family law attorney will quote you their own rate, and the clerk of court in your county will tell you the filing fee to the dollar.

The waiting period and the residency requirement in that table are in the same position, and they matter more, because a wrong number there is a filing in the wrong place rather than a bad estimate. Both came into our data at the original build and nobody here has read Texas's dissolution statute. Confirm both with the clerk of court in the county where you will file, and ask specifically whether the wait runs from the day you file or from a separation date, because states do it both ways and our records hold one number for both cases.

DCE State Score Breakdown

Our proprietary index ranks every state on cost, complexity, and timeline. Higher is more favorable.

Overall DCE State Score

62/ 100

A score of 62 means Texas is roughly average in terms of divorce cost and complexity.

Cost Score

24/ 40

Based on filing fees, attorney rates, and total typical costs in Texas.

Complexity Score

26/ 30

Reflects judicial discretion, mandatory mediation, and procedural hurdles.

Timeline Score

12/ 30

Driven by waiting periods and average case duration from filing to decree.

Divorce Calculators for Texas

All 15 calculators preconfigured for Texas.

Texas Divorce Laws Overview

Property Division

Our record has Texas as a community property state. That is our own record rather than Texas's own property division law. Where that holds, most assets and debts acquired during the marriage are owned equally by both spouses and are typically divided 50/50 in a divorce. Assets owned before the marriage, or received as gifts or inheritance during the marriage, are generally considered separate property and are not subject to division.

Spousal Support (Alimony)

Texas gives courts a calculation to work from and then lets them adjust it on the facts, and that is checked against the state's own rendered instrument rather than inherited from our record. What this project has read of Texas's law is Tex. Fam. Code § 8.055(a), with gross income defined at § 8.055(a-1) and Tex. Fam. Code § 8.054(a), the subsection limiting how long a maintenance order may remain in effect, read with § 8.054(b). The statutory factors our record carries are: length of the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, standard of living during the marriage, history of domestic violence. The factor list is a separate question and it has not been checked, so it remains our own.

Child Support

Our record puts Texas among the Percentage of Income Model states, and nobody here has read Texas's own guideline to check it. In that model the paying parent's income is multiplied by a fixed percentage based on the number of children, and the receiving parent's income is not directly factored into the basic calculation.

Custody and Parenting Time

Texas courts determine custody on the best interests of the child. Our record carries no presumption of equal parenting time for the state and puts judicial discretion here in the middle of its three-point scale. That is our own record rather than Texas's own custody law. Courts generally favor arrangements that allow both parents meaningful involvement in the child's life.

Other Notable Factors

  • Our records flag Texas as a state where courts can consider domestic violence when dividing marital property, which would allow an unequal division in cases involving abuse. That is our own record rather than Texas's own property division law. Nobody here has read Texas's code to confirm it. Only three of our 50 rows carry that flag, so read its absence elsewhere as a gap in our data rather than as a finding about the other states.

This estimate is for planning purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Consult a licensed family law attorney in your state for guidance specific to your situation.

Recent Law Changes in Texas

All state updates

Notable updates to Texas family law that affect divorce outcomes and costs.

Texas Expands Collaborative Divorce Framework

Moderate

Our record dates this to September 2023

Texas divorces with complex assets or business interests now have a clearer collaborative divorce framework available. The expanded confidentiality protections make collaborative process more attractive for high-profile or high-asset cases.

No document behind this change has been opened here. The link goes to Texas's own site rather than to the instrument, so read the change itself as our record.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a divorce cost in Texas?
Our working estimate is $2,000 - $5,500 for an uncontested Texas divorce and $15,000 - $50,000 for a contested one, with the spread depending on attorney involvement, custody disputes, and the complexity of the marital estate. Court filing fees alone are $250 - $350. Both totals are ours rather than measured averages: they came into our data when this site was built and no survey stands behind them.
How long does a divorce take in Texas?
Our records put Texas's mandatory wait at 60 days, an uncontested case at roughly 3 months, and a contested one at about 14. Treat all three as ours rather than as findings: we have not read Texas's dissolution statute or its court caseload statistics. The clerk of court in the county where you will file can confirm the wait, and whether it runs from filing or from a separation date, which differs by state.
Is Texas a community property state?
Our record has Texas as a community property state. That is our own record rather than Texas's own property division law. Where that holds, most assets and debts acquired during the marriage are owned equally by both spouses and are typically divided 50/50 in a divorce. Assets owned before the marriage, or received as gifts or inheritance during the marriage, are generally considered separate property and are not subject to division.
How is child support calculated in Texas?
Our record puts Texas among the Percentage of Income Model states, and nobody here has read Texas's own guideline to check it. In that model the paying parent's income is multiplied by a fixed percentage based on the number of children, and the receiving parent's income is not directly factored into the basic calculation.
How is alimony determined in Texas?
Texas gives courts a calculation to work from and then lets them adjust it on the facts, and that is checked against the state's own rendered instrument rather than inherited from our record. What this project has read of Texas's law is Tex. Fam. Code § 8.055(a), with gross income defined at § 8.055(a-1) and Tex. Fam. Code § 8.054(a), the subsection limiting how long a maintenance order may remain in effect, read with § 8.054(b). The statutory factors our record carries are: length of the marriage, each spouse's earning capacity, standard of living during the marriage, history of domestic violence. The factor list is a separate question and it has not been checked, so it remains our own.

Divorce Costs in Nearby States

See all 50 states