Cheap Uncontested Divorce in Texas

Last Updated on May 2024

Divorce is often not only a stressful but also a costly process. Spouses ending their marriage need to cover expenses on lawyers, mediators, property evaluators, parenting classes, court fees, etc. However, affordable divorce in Texas is still possible.

This article will provide several options for getting a low-cost divorce and analyze their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, we will present some free resources for preparing for a cheap marriage dissolution in the state.

How to Get a Cheap Divorce?

Uncontested divorce is generally the cheapest way to get a divorce in Texas. If you and your spouse have compromised and agreed on the legal, financial, and practical aspects involved in ending your marriage, you can save money and time.

To file for an agreed-upon marriage dissolution, you need to discuss the divorce terms with your spouse, decide on the issues of child custody, support, alimony, and property division, and enter into a Marital Settlement Agreement. You will also have to fill out and sign the necessary papers and file them offline with the clerk’s office or online if allowed in your county.

Since the case is uncontested, it is possible to go through the process without a lawyer. At the hearing set after the mandatory waiting period, the judge will likely only review the arrangements made by spouses. If the court has no questions about their expediency and fairness, a couple can get the divorce decree signed by the judge during the first trial.

Flat-Fee Uncontested Divorce Packages

Starting an uncontested case, you can save money on hiring an attorney and use our online service to prepare divorce papers at a fixed cost. An agreed-upon dissolution may be the easiest way to divorce, and with our help, you can simplify its first stage – document preparation. You can avoid searching for the forms and choosing the appropriate ones on your own. You will get a ready set of paperwork in a few days and will need to file it with the court.

Here is how our flat-fee uncontested divorce service works:

1. Answer a few simple questions to see if you can file for an uncontested divorce.
2. Pay the fixed cost for a set of documents.
3. Complete the comprehensive questionnaire by filling in all the required fields.
4. Download the paperwork from your personal account in a few business days, or get your papers shipped at an additional fee.
5. After receiving the filled-out forms, sign them if required. Some papers should also be notarized. 

We can help you and your spouse file successfully for a cheap divorce in Texas with our uncontested divorce flat-fee packages:

What are my Options for Low-Cost Divorce in Texas?

There are several ways to decrease your divorce expenses in Texas. Let’s analyze them in more detail.

1. Do-It-Yourself Divorce

Preparing for marriage dissolution on your own is the least expensive method to file for divorce. If you do not hire attorneys, mediators, or other experts and complete all the paperwork on your own, you will likely need to pay only mandatory court fees. Their amount depends on the county and usually varies from $250 to $350. For instance, the filing fee is $293 in Hood County and $350 in Guadalupe County.

You can waive court fees if your income is too low; to do so, you should submit a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs or an Appeal Bond to the clerk’s office when filing for divorce.

Although DIY divorce is the cheapest way to end a marriage, it can take a lot of time and be quite stressful. It is explained by the need to negotiate the divorce terms with the other spouse on your own, determine, find, and prepare the necessary papers, file them with the court, and go through all the steps of the process independently.

2. Online Divorce

Another solution that increases your chances of getting a quick and cheap divorce online or offline is a document preparation service. You can complete the necessary paperwork with its help, provided you have agreed on all the divorce terms with the other party. Preparing the forms online is a suitable solution for those who wish to get ready for filing quickly and without high costs.

While ordering documents from an online service is not free, the prices are usually moderate. Besides, it will save you from wasting time searching for and filling in papers yourself. You will receive ready paperwork within the suitable deadline to file it with the court immediately offline or online.

The service is very convenient since you can complete the questionnaire from anywhere and anytime. The other advantages of using it are the following:

1. The price for preparing divorce documents is fixed, and you will not face any unexpected costs.
2. All the forms you receive will be court-approved and up-to-date; the system will automatically choose the required ones based on the case details.
3. The process of preparing the papers will take only a few days, which is much faster than if you search for and fill them out yourself.

3. Free Legal Aid Services

If you need legal assistance but do not have the funds to pay for it, you can ask Legal Assistance Organizations for help. They provide support to divorcing couples for free or at a low cost. You can learn more about them on the Texas State Law Library website.

The advantage of Legal Aid Services is that they can help you navigate the divorce process for free, and you don’t have to spend money on hiring a lawyer. However, in most cases, they provide general information, and it may not be sufficient for your case-specific circumstances.

4. Divorce Mediation

Mediation is another option for reducing expenses since it is typically cheaper than a full-scope lawyer’s assistance. If you have disputes about some of the divorce terms and cannot agree on them yourself, you can try mediation.

The mediator will listen to your discussions and help overcome disagreements. It does not mean they will make decisions for you. Mediators cannot provide legal advice but will facilitate the communication between spouses and help them find a compromise.

Mediation is usually paid on an hourly basis. In Texas, its average rate is between $150 and $250. The total cost of mediation can be from $200 to $1,000 or more, depending on how many sessions you need.

You can choose any divorce option, taking into account your budget and circumstances. DIY divorce is the cheapest solution for terminating marital relations, but preparing for divorce with an online service is usually much easier and faster.

Resources for a Cheap Divorce in Texas

If you are planning to prepare for divorce yourself, you can use several options to learn more about the process to go through. To begin with, you may familiarize yourself with the basic information on divorce presented on the official website of the Texas State Law Library, where you can check the main legal terms, get acquainted with the features of different types of divorce, and find examples of case-specific forms.

Using the Family Code, you can get more information about the requirements and rules for divorce. Besides, you can take advantage of free and low-cost legal assistance organizations operating in the state.

You can also read some useful books. For example, “Divorce without Court: A Guide to Mediation & Collaborative Divorce” will be helpful if you are looking for a way to reach an agreement and divorce without disputes, while “Divorce After 50: Your Guide to the Unique Legal & Financial Challenges” will become an indispensable support in divorce after a long marriage.

To sum up, you have several options to save money in a divorce. One of them is using an online document preparation service that offers the filled-in forms for an uncontested case at a fixed price and within convenient deadlines.