The most common question an individual will ask when entering any legal battle is “how much is this going to cost?” Although there are many factors that will affect the overall cost of your court case, such as attorney fee rates, complexity of the issues, settlement vs trial; there is one constant cost that you are able to determine before you enter you even file your case, court costs. When discussing the cost of representation with your Orlando Divorce Attorney, ask the questions surrounding the court costs of your case and they will be able to explain in detail the costs as well as what that fee encompasses.
In the city of Orlando, you are surrounded by the counties of Orange, Seminole, and Osceola. When filing a divorce case, Florida statute provides all Dissolution of Marriage actions be filed in the proper circuit court. There are 20 judicial circuits in the State of Florida that encompass the 67 different counties. Therefore, Orange County and Osceola County are within the Ninth Judicial Circuit while Seminole county falls within the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit. Both Orange County and Seminole County, the Ninth Judicial Circuit, have an original filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage fee of $408. This will initiate the case allow you to file your documents in the court and provide you with an assignment of a judge. Next, you will need to pay an additional fee of $10 to request summons be issued by the clerk of the court to serve your spouse with proper process. This places your spouse on notice of the divorce proceedings. Therefore, your initial fee when filing the divorce action will be a total of $418. After this, you not be required to pay any other court fees involved in this immediate litigation. In contrast, if your spouse wishes to file an answer to your Petition for Dissolution, they are permitted to do so and their answer falls within your initial filing fee. However, if they wish to also respond with a counter petition, they will be required to pay an additional fee of $295. This extra fee is not your responsibility and will be held by your spouse. If your case falls within the Osceola County lines, you will need to pay the fees associated with the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, which entails an initial filing fee of $397.50 and a request for an issuance of summons of $10. Your spouse in return, if they choose to file a counter petition will be required to pay a filing fee of $295. Outside of these initial fees, there will likely be no extra costs incurred and required by the court. However, after the close of your case, if you wish to reopen it for modification issues such as alimony, child support, or child custody you will need to pay another fee of $50.
Although, these court costs do not provide a full picture of the overall cost of your divorce, they do provide you with a small portion of the amount that will be required upfront in order to proceed with your case. Contact your Orlando Divorce Attorney today to begin this process and discuss the specifics of our fee arrangements involving court costs.
Speaking to an attorney at our Orlando office is free of charge, and we accept calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us at 407-512-0887 or complete an online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team today.