How Much Does a Get Cost in New York? Fees, Who Pays & What to Expect

Clients preparing for a Jewish divorce usually have two cost questions: what will the Beis Din charge for the Get itself, and who is supposed to pay it. The short answers: for a cooperative, straightforward Get in the New York area, most batei din charge on the order of several hundred dollars — commonly in the $400 to $800 range — while contested, expedited, or long-distance matters can run higher; and although arranging the Get is traditionally the husband's obligation, in modern practice the cost is frequently negotiated and allocated in the civil settlement, just like any other expense of the divorce. Here is what goes into the number, what makes it grow, and how to make sure it never becomes a fight.

What the Beis Din's Fee Covers

A Get is not a form off a shelf. The fee charged by a rabbinical court typically covers:

• The dayanim — the rabbinic judges who supervise the proceeding and confirm that the Get is given and received freely and correctly;
• The sofer — a qualified scribe who writes the Get by hand, specifically for your case, at the appearance itself;
• The witnesses (eidim) who attest to the writing and the delivery;
• Administration — opening the file, coordinating both parties (and sometimes a second beis din), and issuing each party the ptur, the certificate proving the religious divorce is complete.

Every beis din sets its own schedule, and fees change — always confirm the current fee directly with the beis din handling your matter. Our office regularly works with the established batei din serving Brooklyn, Monsey, and Kiryas Joel and can tell you what to expect for your particular forum. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the proceeding itself, see our guide to the Beis Din divorce process in New York.

What Makes a Get Cost More

• Agency and travel. If the parties are in different cities and the Get is delivered through an agent (shaliach), or if the sofer and witnesses must travel, expect additional fees.
• Expedited scheduling. A Get needed on short notice — before a wedding date, a move, or a court deadline — can carry a premium.
• Refusal and enforcement. The real cost driver is not the ceremony; it is a spouse who will not appear. Repeated summonses (hazmanos), seruv proceedings, and the civil litigation that follows a withheld Get can dwarf the ceremonial fee many times over. This is precisely the scenario the halachic prenup exists to prevent.
• Related religious-court proceedings. If the beis din is also arbitrating financial or other disputes by agreement of the parties, that is a separate engagement with its own costs.

Who Pays for the Get?

Under traditional Jewish law, giving the Get is the husband's act and arranging it is his responsibility, and many batei din by default look to the husband for their fee. In practice, the allocation is negotiable — and it should be negotiated, in writing, as part of the civil case:

• In a settlement. A well-drafted stipulation of settlement states who appears before which beis din, by when, and who pays the Get costs — eliminating a petty dispute that can delay both divorces. We build these provisions into agreements as a matter of course.
• Splitting the cost. Many couples agree to divide the fee equally, or to allocate it against some other adjustment in the settlement. Nothing in Jewish law prevents the parties from agreeing on the economics.
• When there is leverage. Where a Get has been withheld, courts applying New York's Get Laws (DRL § 253 and the barrier-to-remarriage provisions of DRL § 236(B)) may take the withholding into account in the financial outcome — and a beis din-ordered support obligation under a halachic prenup is enforceable in civil court. The cost of the Get ceremony becomes trivial next to those numbers.

Get Costs in Context: The Whole Divorce

Keep the Get fee in perspective. In an uncontested New York divorce, our fixed legal fees run $1,500 to $2,500 depending on children and real estate, plus court filing fees of roughly $335 — so a several-hundred-dollar Get is a modest line item in the overall budget, and both processes can usually be sequenced within the same few months. In a contested matter, the civil litigation is the expense; the Get is not. The one configuration to avoid is a completed civil divorce with an unresolved Get: at that point leverage shifts, costs climb, and remarriage is blocked. Sequence both tracks together from the start.

Five Ways to Keep Get Costs Down

• Agree on the beis din early. Choosing the forum by consent — ideally in the settlement or a prenup — avoids duplicate files and competing summonses.
• Put the allocation in the stipulation. One sentence about who pays eliminates the argument.
• Cooperate on scheduling. A single appearance with both parties present is the least expensive Get there is.
• Use an agent thoughtfully. If distance is an issue, ask the beis din about agency delivery before booking travel.
• Prevent refusal before the wedding. For engaged couples, the halachic prenup makes Get-refusal — the truly expensive scenario — financially irrational.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Get fee part of the court costs in my divorce?

No. The Beis Din's fee is separate from New York court filing fees and from legal fees. But your settlement agreement can — and usually should — say who pays it.

Can the Beis Din reduce the fee in a hardship case?

Many batei din will work with parties facing genuine financial hardship rather than let cost block a Get. Ask the beis din directly, or have counsel or your rav raise it.

Do I need a lawyer for the Get itself?

The religious proceeding is conducted by the beis din, not by attorneys. Where counsel matters is the interface: sequencing the Get with the civil case, drafting Get-cooperation and cost provisions into the settlement, and enforcing your rights if cooperation breaks down.

What if my spouse refuses to pay their agreed share?

If the obligation is in a stipulation of settlement or judgment, it is enforceable in civil court like any other provision — another reason to put it in writing.