How much does a divorce cost in Milan in 2026?

The cost of a divorce depends on the type of procedure chosen to obtain it: before the municipality, through assisted negotiation (negoziazione assistita), by petitioning the court on a joint application, or through judicial proceedings (divorzio giudiziale), where one spouse goes to court alone. On top of the cost of the procedure comes the lawyer’s fee, which is agreed with the client; the law sets the parameters for when there is no written agreement. There is a separate article on the costs of a separation.

The costs set by law

If you go to court, you pay the contributo unificato, the fee paid to the State to enter the case on the court roll. For 2026 the fee is 43 euros for a divorce or separation on a joint application and 98 euros for a judicial divorce or separation (Article 13 of Presidential Decree No. 115 of 2002). It is paid by whoever files the petition, at the moment of filing (Article 14 of Presidential Decree 115/2002). If the first-instance judgment is appealed, the fee for the appeal proceedings increases by half.

Until 31 December 2026 all deeds, documents and orders in divorce proceedings are exempt from stamp duty, registration tax and any other tax (Article 19 of Law No. 74 of 1987). From 1 January 2027 Article 19 of Law 74/1987 is repealed, and from that date the exemption will have to be checked against the new rules.

Separation and divorce at the municipality

The spouses can divorce by agreement before the mayor, acting as civil registrar, of the municipality (Comune) of residence of either spouse or of the one where the marriage certificate is registered or transcribed (Article 12 of Decree-Law No. 132 of 2014). This route is for a divorce that follows a separation. A lawyer is optional: each spouse may choose to be assisted or not.

The municipality route is ruled out if there are minor children, adult children who are incapable or have a serious disability, or children who are not financially self-sufficient. The agreement cannot contain property transfers.

The municipality charges a fixed fee which, by law, cannot exceed the fixed stamp duty for marriage banns (Article 12, paragraph 6, of Decree-Law 132/2014).

Assisted negotiation

In assisted negotiation the spouses seek an agreement out of court, each with their own lawyer: the law requires at least one per party (Article 6 of Decree-Law 132/2014). This route, too, is for a divorce that follows a separation.

As for costs, what counts here is the fee of at least two lawyers, one per party. Under the ministerial fee parameters, if the negotiation ends in an agreement, the fees for the activation and negotiation stages increase by 30 per cent.

In the agreement the spouses can provide for divorce maintenance (assegno di divorzio) to be paid as a single lump sum. In that case it is the lawyers who assess whether it is fair.

Consensual and judicial divorce

A consensual divorce (divorzio congiunto) is requested with a petition that the spouses file together with the court of the place where either of them resides or is domiciled (Article 473-bis.51 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure). A judicial divorce, by contrast, is brought with a petition from one spouse only (Article 473-bis.12 of the Code of Civil Procedure). Court timelines are covered in the article on separation in Milan.

A judicial divorce carries one more item. In the judgment that closes the case, the judge orders the losing party to reimburse the other party’s costs (Article 91 of the Code of Civil Procedure). The judge may, however, offset them, in whole or in part, for example where each party has lost on some point (Article 92 of the Code of Civil Procedure). If the parties settle, the costs are deemed offset, meaning each party pays their own lawyer, unless they agree otherwise. The judge may also exclude reimbursement of costs considered excessive or unnecessary.

A divorce that follows a separation can be requested once the separation has lasted without interruption for at least twelve months from the hearing at which the spouses appeared, or six months if it was consensual (Article 3 of Law No. 898 of 1970). If the separation was reached through assisted negotiation or at the municipality, the six months run from the date certified in the negotiation agreement or from the date of the agreement concluded at the municipality.

The lawyer’s fee

The fee is agreed between lawyer and client, as a rule in writing when the lawyer is given the instruction (Article 13 of Law No. 247 of 2012). The parties are free to choose the form: by time, as a flat fee, by individual stage or for the whole work. An agreement under which the lawyer takes a share of the asset in dispute as payment is prohibited. The lawyer must state in writing the foreseeable cost, distinguishing between charges, expenses and fee. The lawyer must also tell the client how complex the instruction is and give useful information on the charges foreseeable from start to finish. If lawyer and client cannot agree on the fee, either of them can ask the local Bar Council for an attempt at conciliation.

Where the fee has not been set in writing, or where the court sets it, the parameters of Ministerial Decree 55/2014, as amended by Ministerial Decree 147/2022, apply. They take into account the value and difficulty of the matter, its urgency, the results achieved, the client’s circumstances, and the number and complexity of the issues dealt with. The fee is calculated by stage: study, introduction of the proceedings, evidence-gathering and decision. The evidence-gathering stage is counted only when it actually takes place.

Under the parameters, if a single lawyer assists both spouses in a divorce on a joint application, the fee increases by 30 per cent compared with the fee for a single client. On top of this come the reimbursement of documented expenses and a sum for general expenses of 15 per cent of the fee, due even when the fee has been agreed.

How to proceed

Speaking to a lawyer before taking any step is useful above all if there are minor children or children who are not self-sufficient, or if the agreement must include transfers of property: in these cases you cannot go to the municipality, but must use assisted negotiation or proceedings before the court, with different costs. In separation and divorce matters, the firm handles consensual separation, judicial separation, divorce, assisted negotiation and variation of arrangements. The first consultation is used to frame the case: you describe the situation, the firm reads the documents and tells you which routes are open and which are not. At the end of the first consultation you receive a written quote and decide afterwards, with the figures in front of you.