Our Contact Centre will be closed from 5pm on 24 December 2024, reopening at 8am on 3 January 2025. National Office (Aitken Street, Wellington) reception will be closed from 5pm on Friday 20 December, reopening at 8am on Monday 6 January 2025. For more information, see Court and Tribunal hours
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Certain applications or events associated with the Family Court may have a fee. You may be able to apply for support to help with these fees.
When you file your application to the court, you must pay any application fees, or show a receipt that you’ve already paid.
| Application name | Fee |
| Dissolution Order (for a divorce) | $233 |
| Parenting Order | $242 |
| Change (vary) or cancel (discharge) a Parenting Order | $242 |
| Apply for an order about relationship property | $770 |
You may have to pay a fee before you can attend some hearings.
| Hearing name | Fee |
| Relationship property | $997 per half day or part of a half day |
All other Family Court applications have no fee. This means if your application or hearing is not listed here, it is free to apply.
If you’re not sure whether you need to pay an application fee, check with your lawyer or freephone the Ministry of Justice on 0800 268 787(external link).
You can use our File and Pay service to pay for any application fees. This service lets you pay your fees online using a credit card or debit card.
When you make a payment through File and Pay, you will receive a receipt. You should send this receipt to the court with your documents, to show proof of payment.
You can also use our File and Pay service to file your documents with the court.
Go to File and Pay(external link)
If you have a lawyer, you may be able to arrange payment through them. Your lawyer can also help prepare the application and file it at the nearest court for you.
You can pay your application fee at the Family Court. You can pay by cash, eftpos, debit or credit card. You can file your documents at the same time.
If you’re going to the Family Court, there may be other fees or costs to think about. You may need to arrange and pay for the cost of:
If you need support to pay your fees, you may be able to apply for a fee waiver.
It costs $448.50 per person to attend a Family Dispute Resolution mediation service. You may qualify for funding to help with this fee.
Funding for Family Dispute Resolution mediation service
If you’re going through a relationship break-up, or changing the day-to-day care of a child, your financial situation may change. For example, you might have less money coming in each week or you might be spending more on things like food and rent. There are organisations that offer financial support and services that can help you sort out a new budget.
Going to Family Court can be hard. It's normal to feel overwhelmed. There are services available to help and support through this time.
Visit our help page