Filing for divorce in Pennsylvania begins with a short stack of standardized forms, and the exact set depends on whether your spouse will consent, whether you’re raising claims for property or support, and whether children are involved. Every case starts with the same core packet: a combined Notice to Defend and Divorce Complaint, a Confidential Information Form, and proof that the papers were served on your spouse. From there, the Pennsylvania divorce papers you add depend on the grounds you choose and the claims you bring. At least one spouse must have lived in the Commonwealth for six months before filing, and the fastest no-fault path still requires a 90-day wait after service before the consent affidavits can be signed.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3301 – Grounds for Divorce Forms are available through the Unified Judicial System’s self-help pages and at your county Prothonotary’s office.
The Starting Packet: Complaint, Notice to Defend, and CIF
The first document you file is the combined Notice to Defend and Divorce Complaint, often labeled “Form 1” on the courts’ self-help pages.2Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Divorce Proceedings The Notice to Defend warns your spouse that an action has been started and that failing to respond could let the court decide matters without their input. The Complaint itself gives the court the facts it needs to take jurisdiction.
Under Rule 1920.72, the complaint must include both spouses’ full legal names and current addresses, the date and location of the marriage, a statement that at least one spouse has been a bona fide Pennsylvania resident for six or more months, and the section of the Divorce Code you’re proceeding under.3Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code Rule 1920.72 – Form of Complaint A built-in verification at the bottom of the complaint requires your signature under penalty of unsworn falsification. That verification replaces the separate notarized form many people expect.
If you want the court to decide anything beyond the divorce itself, you add those issues as separate “counts” in the complaint. Common ancillary counts include equitable distribution, alimony, custody, child support, and counsel fees. Each count typically adds to the filing fee and expands what the court will decide. The complaint must also note any prior divorce or annulment actions between you and your spouse.
Alongside the complaint, you file a Confidential Information Form (CIF). Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, driver’s license numbers, and the names and dates of birth of any minor children go on the CIF rather than in the complaint.4Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Confidential Information Form The CIF is sealed from public view but stays available to the parties, their attorneys, and the court. In the complaint and later filings, you reference this information using coded placeholders like “SSN 1” or “FAN 1.”
You file the original plus at least two copies at the Prothonotary’s office in the county where you or your spouse lives. The clerk stamps the documents, assigns a docket number, and returns the stamped copies. That docket number has to appear on every filing that follows.
Forms That Depend on Your Grounds
Pennsylvania recognizes no-fault and fault-based grounds, and the one you pick determines which affidavits you’ll file next.
Mutual Consent Under Section 3301(c)
The most common route is a mutual consent divorce, where both spouses agree the marriage is irretrievably broken and each signs a separate Affidavit of Consent. The affidavits cannot be signed until at least 90 days after the complaint was served.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3301 – Grounds for Divorce Once signed, each affidavit must be filed with the Prothonotary within 30 days or it goes stale and has to be re-signed.
One-Year Separation Under Section 3301(d)
If one spouse refuses to consent, the other can still proceed by filing an Affidavit under Section 3301(d) stating that the marriage is irretrievably broken and the parties have lived separate and apart for at least one year. The other spouse then has 20 days to file a Counter-Affidavit challenging those claims.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3301 – Grounds for Divorce If no counter-affidavit arrives, or if it doesn’t contest the grounds, the case moves forward. If economic claims are contested, a hearing before a divorce master may follow.
Fault-Based Grounds
Pennsylvania still recognizes fault grounds including willful desertion lasting a year or more, adultery, cruel treatment that endangers the other spouse’s health, bigamy, a criminal sentence of two or more years, and conduct so degrading it makes the marriage intolerable.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3301 – Grounds for Divorce Fault cases demand far more evidence than no-fault filings but eliminate the waiting periods that apply under 3301(c) and (d).
Forms When You’re Claiming Property, Support, or Alimony
Once a count for alimony, equitable distribution, or counsel fees is raised, both spouses must exchange detailed financial paperwork. Rule 1920.31 requires each party to provide a completed Income Statement, an Expense Statement, a copy of their most recent federal tax return, and six months of pay stubs when alimony or fee claims are in play.5Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 231 Pa. Code r. 1920.31 – Joinder of Related Claims, Alimony, Counsel Fees, Costs and Expenses No hearing on alimony or fees can be requested until at least 30 days after these documents are filed, and the other party has 20 days after receiving them to file their own.
When equitable distribution is claimed, Rule 1920.33 adds an Inventory. This is a comprehensive list of every marital and non-marital asset and liability, valued as of the date of separation. Real estate, bank accounts, retirement funds, vehicles, investment accounts, mortgages, credit card balances, and loans all belong on it.6Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 231 Pa. Code r. 1920.33 – Joinder of Related Claims, Equitable Division, Enforcement Leaving an asset off the Inventory can bring sanctions or loss of your claim to that property, so disclose generously.
If you and your spouse reach terms on your own, you put them in a written Property Settlement Agreement. Under Section 3105 of the Divorce Code, these agreements are enforceable as though they were court orders, even if they aren’t formally incorporated into the decree.7Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 23 Pa.C.S. 3105 – Effect of Agreement Between Parties Property division and alimony provisions in that agreement generally cannot be modified later unless the agreement itself allows it. Child support and custody provisions always remain modifiable.
A note about retirement accounts: the decree alone does not divide them. Private-sector plans need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO), and Pennsylvania public pension plans like PSERS use an Approved Domestic Relations Order (ADRO) reviewed by the pension system.8Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. PSERS Divorce Guidelines That separate order has to be drafted, approved by the plan administrator, and filed with the court.
Forms When Children Are Involved
If your complaint includes a custody count, both parents must file a Criminal Record or Abuse History Verification under Rule 1915.3-2. The filing parent submits the verification with the complaint and serves a blank copy on the other parent. The other parent files their own by their first in-person court contact or within 30 days of being served, whichever comes first.9Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Rule 1915.3-2 – Criminal Record or Abuse History
The verification covers the parent and every adult in the parent’s household. The scope includes violent offenses, sexual offenses, drug crimes, and any involvement with a Children and Youth agency. Updated verifications are due again five days before trial. Failing to file can result in sanctions.
Custody procedures vary significantly by county, so contact your local court administration to confirm which additional custody forms your Prothonotary requires beyond the statewide verification.10Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Custody Proceedings
Serving the Papers and Proving It
After filing, you must formally deliver the papers to your spouse. Rule 1930.4 allows personal delivery by a sheriff or another competent adult, certified mail with restricted delivery and return receipt requested (sent alongside regular first-class mail), or delivery through a commercial carrier with similar tracking and signature requirements.11Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code Rule 1930.4 – Service A cooperative spouse can simply sign an Acceptance of Service, which you then file with the Prothonotary.12Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code Rule 1920.4 – Service
Whichever method you use, proof must go in the file. For personal service, the person who delivered the papers files an affidavit describing the date, time, and manner of delivery. For mail service, the return receipt is your proof. The court will not schedule hearings or enter a decree until proof of service is on file.
If your spouse has disappeared and you’ve genuinely exhausted efforts to find them, you can ask the court for an order allowing service by publication under Rule 430. The motion must include an affidavit describing the investigation you conducted and why normal methods failed. If granted, notice runs once in the county’s designated legal publication and once in a newspaper of general circulation.13Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. Pennsylvania Code Rule 430 – Service by Publication Courts scrutinize these affidavits carefully.
If You Can’t Afford the Filing Fees
Base filing fees for a divorce complaint typically land between roughly $175 and $350 depending on the county, with ancillary counts adding more. If you can’t afford the fees, you can submit a Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis (Form 2). The petition requires detailed financial disclosure covering your income, assets, debts, and dependents, and you must attest that you can’t pay the fees and can’t obtain funds from family or associates to cover them. If the court grants it, filing fees and costs are waived, but you have an ongoing obligation to notify the court if your financial situation improves.14Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Petition to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
Getting the Decree Signed
A Pennsylvania divorce doesn’t become final automatically. After the waiting period, affidavits, and any ancillary claims have been resolved or waived, someone has to ask the court to enter the decree. That request is called the Praecipe to Transmit Record.
The Praecipe asks the Prothonotary to send your case file to a judge for signature. It requires you to identify the grounds, the date your spouse was served, the dates of the relevant affidavits, and whether any ancillary claims remain pending.15Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Praecipe to Transmit Record Before filing the Praecipe, you must serve a Notice of Intention to File the Praecipe to Transmit Record on your spouse, giving them a final chance to object. Both parties can waive that notice requirement in writing.
Depending on where your case stands, the decree the judge signs will take one of three shapes:
- A standard decree dissolving the marriage with all ancillary claims already resolved.
- A decree that dissolves the marriage and incorporates a written Property Settlement Agreement.
- A bifurcated decree that dissolves the marriage while the court keeps jurisdiction over unresolved economic claims.
Once the judge signs, the Prothonotary records the decree and notifies both parties.
Restoring a Prior Name
Either spouse can request to resume a former surname using a Notice of Intention to Resume Prior Surname, filed under 54 Pa.C.S. ยง 704. It can be submitted at any point during the proceeding or after the decree is entered.16Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Notice of Intention to Resume Prior Surname Some counties require the form to be notarized, so confirm with your Prothonotary before signing. The restoration applies only to your surname and does not require a separate name-change petition.