Special Report

Here Is How Much it Costs to Get Divorced in South Carolina

Michael B. Sauter

Published: July 19, 2021 7:00 am

Last Updated: July 19, 2021 1:04 pm

The American divorce rate is at its lowest level in decades, with just 14.9 out of every 1,000 marriages ending in divorce. Still, over 746,000 married couples decided to split up in 2019. Going through a divorce can be a challenging process for the couple and their families, not just due to the emotional strain, but also because it can be an expensive undertaking.

Each partner in a divorce will pay, on average, nearly $10,000 in legal fees throughout the process — and proceedings get even pricier if children are involved. This is not the case everywhere, though. In some states, the average cost of divorce is less than $7,000, while in others divorce legal fees can balloon to over $12,000.

To determine the cost of a divorce in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed estimates from Self Financial, Inc., a financial services company. States were ranked based on the average cost of legal representation and court fees in every state.

As is perhaps expected, divorce is more expensive in states with higher incomes. While people in these states are better able to afford higher-priced legal counsel, these states tend to have a much lower share of their populations who are divorced. Among the 12 states where divorce is the most expensive, just one has a higher share of its population that is divorced than the national rate of 10.9%.

In South Carolina, getting divorced is relatively expensive. The average cost of a divorce per person in the state, including court and lawyer fees, is $10,150 — the 25th lowest among all states. Nationwide, the average cost of a divorce per person is $9,969. If children are involved, the average cost of a divorce per person in South Carolina increases to $13,867.

South Carolina couples are less likely to get divorced than other American couples. The divorce rate in the state is 2.6 divorces per 1,000 people — the 13th lowest divorce rate among states and well above the U.S. divorce rate of 2.7 per 1,000 people.

To determine the cost of a divorce in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed estimates from Self Financial, Inc., a financial services company. States were ranked based on the average cost of legal representation and court fees in every state. This is how much it costs to get divorced in every state.