Divorce in Dade County, Georgia: costs, court rules and local help
Summary
Divorces in Dade County are filed with the Dade County Superior Court. The filing fee is $213.50, and sheriff service is $50 per copy served by the sheriff.
- The clerk's office at 255 W. Crabtree Street in Trenton is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and handles Superior and Juvenile Court cases. Mail goes to P.O. Box 417, Trenton, GA 30752, and legal notices run in the Dade County Sentinel.1
- If you have to serve your spouse by publication, the clerk's cost schedule says a divorce notice runs for four weeks, at $15 per 100 words for each of the first four insertions.2
- The Seventh Judicial Administrative District's mediation office (770-387-4820) handles mediation for the circuit. You and your spouse agree on a mediator from its roster, or the office assigns one. Mediators average $100 to $200 an hour, split equally and paid at the session, and you can apply for a fee waiver before the session.3
- Dade, Catoosa, Chattooga and Walker counties make up the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, which sets one set of divorce rules for all four.4
Where to file
Dade County Clerk of Superior and Juvenile Courts
255 W. Crabtree Street, Suite 103
Trenton, GA 30752
Phone: 706-657-47785
Filing fee
$213.50 to file. Sheriff service: $50 per copy served by the sheriff.2
Parenting class
In cases with minor children, each parent must complete a court-approved co-parenting seminar within 31 days: the spouse who files counts from filing, the other from service. Attend the whole seminar and file proof with the clerk.6
Mediation
Contested cases must finish mediation within 90 days after service, or within six months if both spouses agree in writing, unless the court waives it. Mediation isn't required when domestic violence is alleged, unless the court assigns the case to a qualified mediator.6
Court forms
The circuit posts free forms for uncontested divorces with and without minor children, including a financial affidavit and a motion for service by publication. Go to the forms.7
Standing order
The circuit's standing order applies to every divorce filed since January 1, 2026, and the clerk rejects a new filing that doesn't attach it. While the case is open, neither spouse may sell or hide property, cut off the other's utilities, change the family's insurance, keep the children out of Georgia for more than eight days or move them to another school, or harass the other.6
Also good to know
The clerk posts a notice for people filing without a lawyer: staff can't advise which procedures to follow, so don't file until those questions are settled. The notice lists the Family Crisis Center's line for temporary protective orders, 706-866-1465.8
Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit rules
Dade County shares its Superior Court judges and divorce rules with Catoosa, Chattooga and Walker counties. The circuit's page has the full standing order, the mediation and parenting seminar rules, and the circuit's other divorce rules.
Free and low-cost help in Dade County
- Family Crisis Center of Walker, Dade, Catoosa & Chattooga Counties. A state-certified family violence program based in LaFayette, serving Dade along with Walker, Catoosa and Chattooga. The number below is its crisis line; its office is 706-375-7180.
Phone: 706-375-76309 - Georgia Legal Services Program. Free civil legal help, including family law, for people with low incomes in 154 of Georgia's 159 counties. Apply online or call the intake line.
Phone: 833-457-752910
If you need an interpreter
If you or a witness needs an interpreter, including sign language, tell the court in writing before the hearing, at least 5 days ahead where you can. The court then works to provide a licensed interpreter at its own expense. In this circuit, send the Interpreter Request Form to the court administrators at least 10 business days before the hearing.11, 4
Dade County Superior Court website
Sources
- ^ Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority, Dade County clerk directory entry (gsccca.org)
- ^ Dade County Clerk of Superior and Juvenile Courts, cost schedule effective July 1, 2024 (PDF): key points and filing fees (dadegaclerkofcourt.com, PDF)
- ^ Seventh Judicial Administrative District, Superior Court mediation (7jad.com)
- ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, home page: key points and interpreters (lmjc.net)
- ^ Dade County Clerk of Superior and Juvenile Courts, contact us (dadegaclerkofcourt.com)
- ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, standing order in domestic relations cases, signed November 4, 2025 (PDF): parenting class, mediation and standing order (lmjc.net, PDF)
- ^ Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, pro se forms (lmjc.net)
- ^ Dade County Clerk of Superior and Juvenile Courts, notice to pro se litigants (PDF) (dadegaclerkofcourt.com, PDF)
- ^ Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, state-certified family violence agencies (PDF) (cjcc.georgia.gov)
- ^ Georgia Legal Services Program, what we do (glsp.org)
- ^ Uniform Superior Court Rule 7.3, interpreters (gasupreme.us)
Court fees and rules change. Check with the clerk before you file. If something here looks out of date, email help@divorce.city.
Nearby counties
Fees and court rules differ from county to county. Guides for neighboring counties: Walker County.