The short answer
The court fee checker tells you the exact fee for the family court application you are making, and whether Help with Fees is likely to reduce or remove it. As of July 2026 a divorce application costs £628, a financial order by consent costs £62 and a child arrangements application costs £270. Several protective orders carry no fee at all.
Key takeaways
- The fee depends on which application you make, not on how much money is involved.
- A divorce, dissolution or nullity application costs £628 as of July 2026.
- A financial order by consent costs £62. A contested one costs £321.
- A non-molestation order, an occupation order and a Domestic Abuse Protection Order applied for by a victim are free. Safety never costs a court fee.
- Help with Fees can cover part or all of a fee, depending on your savings, income and benefits.
- Nothing you type is submitted, stored or sent anywhere. The checker runs in your own browser.
Which court fee do you have to pay?
Seven questions, and fewer if your application is one of the free ones. It gives you the exact fee, then works out whether Help with Fees is likely to cover it using the thresholds HM Courts and Tribunals Service publishes.
Question 1
Which application are you making?
Court fees depend on which application you make, not on how much money is involved.
Question 2
Are you 66 or over?
If you are 66 or over you are allowed more in savings before Help with Fees is ruled out.
Question 3
Do you live with a partner?
If you live with a partner, their savings and income count as well as yours. Answer for how things are now, not how they were.
Question 4
How many children live with you?
Each child raises the income you are allowed before Help with Fees starts to reduce. Leave both at zero if this does not apply.
Question 5
How much do you have in savings and investments?
Savings, investments and money in accounts. Not the home you live in, and not your pension.
Question 6
Do you receive any of these benefits?
Question 7
What is your monthly income before tax?
Before tax, per month, from all sources. An estimate is fine at this stage.
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is submitted, stored or transmitted. Court fees and Help with Fees thresholds correct as of August 2026. This is a guide, not a decision. Only HM Courts and Tribunals Service can decide a Help with Fees application.
Which fees does the checker cover?
The family court charges a set fee for each type of application. These are the figures in force, and the checker returns the one that matches your answers.
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Divorce, dissolution or nullity | £628 |
| Child arrangements or other Section 8 order (C100) | £270 |
| Financial order on notice, contested (Form A) | £321 |
| Financial order by consent, including a clean break | £62 |
| General application within existing proceedings (D11 or C2) | £195 |
Correct as of July 2026. Source: GOV.UK, Court and tribunal fees: updates from July 2026. Fees and eligibility can change, so please confirm the current position before you rely on this.
A Form A starts a contested financial application, one where you have not agreed and want the court to decide. A consent order records an agreement you have already reached and makes it binding, and a clean break ends all future claims between you. More in the divorce court fee explained.
Which applications cost nothing?
Some of the most important applications in family law carry no fee at all, and nobody should be put off by a worry about money. There is no fee for a non-molestation order or an occupation order on form FL401, no fee on form FL403, no fee for a Domestic Abuse Protection Order applied for by the person the abuse is directed at, and no fee for a Forced Marriage Protection Order. If that is your situation, please read our urgent help page first.
Correct as of July 2026. Source: GOV.UK, Injunctions and domestic abuse. Fees and eligibility can change, so please confirm the current position before you rely on this.
How does the Help with Fees part work?
Help with Fees is the government scheme that reduces or removes a court fee for people who cannot reasonably afford it. Eligibility rests on three things: what you hold in savings and investments, what you earn, and whether you receive certain benefits. Some people pay nothing, some pay part. The checker asks about those three and tells you whether an application is likely to succeed. Only His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service can approve one. See help with court fees.
The published figures are these. Savings and investments must be under £4,250 if you are 65 or under, or under £16,000 if you are 66 or over. Monthly income before tax must be at or under £1,420 if you are single, or £2,130 if you live with a partner, plus £425 for each child aged 0 to 13 and £710 for each child aged 14 or over. Above the income line the fee reduces on a sliding scale rather than stopping, and the official calculator works out by how much.
Source: GOV.UK, Help with Fees. Checked August 2026. Thresholds change, so confirm the current position before you rely on them.
What the checker asks you
- Which application you are making, in plain English rather than by form number.
- Whether you are 66 or over, because that changes the savings limit.
- Whether you live with a partner, because their savings and income count as well as yours.
- How many children live with you, and whether each is under or over 14.
- Roughly what you hold in savings and investments.
- Whether you receive any of the qualifying benefits.
- Your monthly income before tax.
It does not ask for your name, address or case number. None of that is needed to give you a fee.
What the checker does not do
It does not submit anything to the court, and it is not itself an application for Help with Fees. It does not tell you whether your application is a good idea, only what it costs. Where your situation falls outside the list it says so rather than guessing. It covers England and Wales only.
Is anything you type into the checker stored?
No. It loads with this page and runs on your own device, which matters here because it asks about savings and income. Those figures are never submitted to us, never written to a database and never passed to anyone else. They go when you close the tab.
Common questions
Is the fee the same whether we agree or not?
No. A financial order by consent costs £62, while a contested one costs £321 and brings a full court timetable with it. That gap is a strong argument for agreeing first, as the full cost breakdown shows.
Do I pay the divorce fee and the financial order fee separately?
Yes. Ending a marriage and settling the money are two applications with two fees. Plenty of people pay the £628 and stop, not realising the money side is still open. See why you need a financial order.
Can I apply for Help with Fees after I have paid?
Money saving tip
Apply before you pay wherever you can. A refund afterwards is sometimes possible, but those rules are set by the courts service and are worth confirming rather than assuming.
Work out the whole bill, not just the fee
Court fees are the fixed part. The cost estimator adds them to everything else so you can see the realistic total for your route.