To get a divorce in NH, you file a Petition for Divorce at the Family Division of the Circuit Court in the county where you or your spouse lives, serve your spouse with the papers, work through any issues involving property, support, and children (ideally in mediation), and then wait for a judge to sign the final decree. The filing fee is $280 without minor children and $282 with minor children, and the decree does not become final until 30 days after the clerk enters the decision.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Circuit Court Filing Fees2New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Rule 2.29 Effective Dates
Make Sure New Hampshire Can Hear Your Case
A New Hampshire court can grant your divorce only if one of three residency conditions is met: both spouses lived in the state when the case was filed; you lived in the state and your spouse was personally handed the papers while physically in New Hampshire; or you have lived in New Hampshire continuously for at least one year before filing.3New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:5 – Over Parties None of these, and the court lacks jurisdiction and will dismiss the case.
Pick the Grounds You’ll File On
Most filers choose no-fault grounds, citing irreconcilable differences. You are saying the marriage has broken down beyond repair, and neither spouse has to prove the other did anything wrong.4New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:7-a – Absolute Divorce, Irreconcilable Differences It is simpler, faster, and cheaper.
Fault grounds are also available: adultery, extreme cruelty, abandonment for two consecutive years, habitual drunkenness, and several others.5New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:7 – Absolute Divorce, Generally A fault filing requires evidence, takes longer, and costs more, but fault can matter later. The court is allowed to weigh it when dividing property if the misconduct caused substantial harm or economic loss to the marriage.
Gather Your Forms
The lead document is the Petition for Divorce (Form NHJB-2057-F), downloadable from the New Hampshire Judicial Branch website.6New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Petition for Divorce It collects basic information about the marriage and lets you spell out what you want the court to order: a property split, alimony, allocation of debts. The requests section frames the scope of your case, so take it seriously.
You file a Personal Data Sheet (Form NHJB-2077-F) alongside the petition, which collects identifying details for both spouses and any children, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth.7New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Personal Data Sheet Before you sit down with the forms, pull together your marriage date, a list of jointly and individually held assets and debts, and information about any real estate.
With minor children, two more documents are required. The Parenting Plan (Form NHJB-2064-F) spells out how you and your spouse will divide decision-making, residential time, school enrollment, transportation, and information sharing for each child.8New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Parenting Plan The UCCJEA Affidavit (Form NHJB-2660-DFP) tells the court where each child has lived for the past five years and whether any other custody case exists in any state.9New Hampshire Judicial Branch. UCCJEA Affidavit
File at the Clerk’s Office and Pay the Fee
Divorce petitions in New Hampshire are filed on paper at the Family Division of the Circuit Court in the county where either spouse lives. The state’s e-filing system does not accept divorce cases.10New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Electronic Services Bring or mail the completed forms to the clerk with the filing fee: $280 without minor children, $282 with minor children.1New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Circuit Court Filing Fees
If the fee is more than you can afford, file a Motion to Reduce or Eliminate Filing Fees with a Financial Affidavit asking the court to lower or waive it. Submit the motion at the same time as the petition so your case is not held up.11New Hampshire Judicial Branch. How to Request to Pay a Lower Fee or File for Free
Serve Your Spouse
Once the court accepts the petition, your spouse must get formal notice. The usual route is to hire the county sheriff’s department to hand-deliver the papers, either directly to your spouse or at their home address. After delivery, you file the proof of service with the court.12New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Overview – The Basics of How to Effect Service
If your spouse will cooperate, they can sign an Acceptance of Service form (NHJB-2961-Se) confirming they received the documents, which skips the sheriff visit and the cost that comes with it.13New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Acceptance of Service Either way, service has to be complete before the court schedules a hearing.
First Appearance and Mediation
What happens after service depends on whether minor children are involved. In cases with children, the court schedules a First Appearance within 30 days after service. A judge explains the process and the mediation options, and the next event goes on the calendar. Both parents must attend unless a protective order is in place, in which case they appear separately.14New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Divorce/Parenting Mediation and NCE Without minor children, there is no First Appearance; the court schedules a regular hearing instead.
Either spouse can request mediation at any point, and the court can order it on its own.15New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:15-c – Mediation Mediation is a structured negotiation with a neutral third party who helps you reach agreements on property, support, and parenting. Settling everything in mediation avoids the expense and unpredictability of a trial. Private mediator fees typically run $250 to $500 per hour; the court’s own program may cost less.
Ask for Temporary Orders If You Can’t Wait
Divorce cases can take months. If you need immediate relief, the court can issue temporary orders after the petition is filed.16New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:16 – Temporary Relief and Permanent Restraining Orders These can set temporary custody and parenting time, order one spouse to pay support to the other, freeze assets so property is not sold, hidden, or transferred outside daily living expenses, and decide who stays in the marital home during the case. The court generally will not order the home sold before the final hearing unless both spouses file a written agreement to it.
Temporary orders stay in effect until the final decree. If your finances or custody situation are precarious, filing for them early can prevent real harm.
Property, Alimony, and Child Support
Three financial questions sit at the center of most divorces, and the court decides each one either by approving your agreement or by ruling after a hearing.
Property
New Hampshire is an equitable distribution state. The starting assumption is a 50/50 split of marital property, but the judge can adjust that based on a long list of factors: the length of the marriage, each spouse’s age, health, income, and employability, financial and non-financial contributions (including homemaking and raising children), career sacrifices, the custodial parent’s needs, retirement and pension rights earned during the marriage, any valid prenuptial agreement, fault that caused substantial harm or economic loss, and the tax consequences of the division.17New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:16-a – Property Settlement Property acquired before the marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance during it, is separate property, but the court can still include it in the division if fairness requires. A clean inventory of assets and debts before you walk into mediation gives you a much stronger starting position.
Alimony
New Hampshire recognizes temporary alimony (during the case), term alimony (periodic payments after the divorce for a set period), and reimbursement alimony (compensation for a spouse who contributed significantly to the other’s career or education). A lump sum is also possible.18New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:19 – Alimony One deadline catches people off guard: an alimony request must be made within five years of the divorce decree. Wait longer than that and the court loses the power to award it.
Child Support and the Parenting Plan
Child support is set by a statutory formula based on both parents’ combined net income and the number of children, with the percentage dedicated to support decreasing as income rises. The total obligation is split between the parents in proportion to their incomes. The Parenting Plan you filed with the petition sets the day-to-day details: a residential schedule, decision-making authority for education, healthcare, and religion, and logistics like transportation between households.8New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Parenting Plan If you and your spouse agree on a plan, submit it jointly; if you disagree, each of you files a proposed plan and the court decides.
Getting the Decree and the 30-Day Wait
Once you resolve every issue, you submit a written agreement called a permanent stipulation, with the parenting plan attached if children are involved. The judge checks that it complies with state law and is not grossly unfair, then signs the Decree of Divorce, and the clerk enters it.
If you cannot reach agreement, the case goes to trial. A judge or marital master hears testimony, reviews evidence, and rules on every unresolved issue. Trials are costly and slow, which is why courts push mediation early.
The decree is not truly final the moment the judge signs it. A 30-day waiting period runs from the date on the clerk’s notice of decision, and a motion for reconsideration or an appeal filed in that window pushes finality back further.2New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Rule 2.29 Effective Dates
What to Handle After the Decree Takes Effect
A few practical steps come up once you are divorced, and missing any of them can cost you.
Name Restoration
If you changed your name when you married and want it back, include the request in the divorce petition itself before the decree issues. Miss that window and you have to file a separate petition for name restoration with the court that entered your decree, which usually means an extra fee.
Dividing Retirement Accounts
If the decree awards a share of an employer-sponsored retirement plan (a 401(k), pension, or similar) to the non-employee spouse, you need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. The decree alone does not move the money. A QDRO is a separate court order directing the plan administrator to pay the non-employee spouse their share. Each plan needs its own QDRO, so a pension and a 401(k) means two. Drafting and plan approval can take weeks or months, and delays sometimes lead to lost benefits if a spouse dies or retires before the order is processed.
Health Insurance and COBRA
If you were covered under your spouse’s employer-sponsored health plan, divorce is a qualifying event for COBRA continuation. You can keep the plan for up to 36 months, but you pay the full premium yourself, usually far more than you paid as a covered spouse. You or your former spouse must notify the plan administrator within 60 days of the divorce.19U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers Miss that 60-day window and you lose COBRA eligibility entirely.
Taxes
Your federal filing status is set by your marital status on December 31. If the decree is final by that date, you file as single or head of household for the whole year, even if you were married most of it. IRS Publication 504 covers the rules for divorced and separated individuals, including alimony, property transfers, and dependent claims.20Internal Revenue Service. About Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
For the Child Tax Credit, the custodial parent (the one the child lives with for more nights during the year) is the default claimant. To let the non-custodial parent claim the credit, the custodial parent must sign IRS Form 8332 releasing the claim for that tax year. A decree saying one parent gets to claim the children is not enough on its own; without the signed Form 8332 attached to the return, the IRS will deny the credit.