Debrecen

Antall József str. 36., gf. 1.

+36 20 445 8480

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Litigation court duty calculator

Estimate the court duty (illeték) for your first-instance proceedings

Litigation court duty calculator (2026)

Value of the claim (HUF):
Calculated first-instance court duty: 489,500 HUF
The calculation above is based on the banded duty rules in force in Hungary on 1 January 2026. It is for guidance only; we accept no responsibility for the use of the result.

The value of the subject of the action equals the value of the claim or other right enforced. That value is:
  • where the conclusion, effectiveness or validity of a contract is to be established: the value of the consideration due for the service
  • where a contract is to be created or terminated: the value of the consideration not yet performed
  • in an action concerning rights in rem: the value of the disputed asset, part of an asset or right in rem
  • in an action to secure a claim: the value of the secured claim
  • in the case of a contract removing assets from the reach of creditors: the value of the claim, or the value of the assets removed if that is lower
  • for a recurring obligation: the value of one year's performance
Interest and other ancillary claims not enforced independently are disregarded when calculating the value of the claim. The calculator does not take any cost reliefs into account.

When setting the fee for litigation, our firm considers whether the value of the claim can be determined and how complex the case is. Where our fee quote differs from the calculation above, we determine it on the following basis:

We also apply the hourly rate where the amount of work needed cannot be determined in advance. Court proceedings are the typical example.

We divide litigation into two stages: the written stage preceding courtroom representation, and the courtroom stage, which begins after the summons. We generally align the fee with this, combining a base fee and an hourly rate:

  • We usually take on the written stage for a base fee, since we can roughly estimate the hours needed to prepare the submissions, including any reply or rejoinder beyond the statement of claim or defence. The courtroom stage, however, is billed by the hour: it cannot be foreseen how many hearings there will be or how long they will last, how often a consultation is needed between hearings, or whether the court will call for further submissions.
  • In more complex cases the workload of the written stage may also be impossible to estimate, in which case we take on the whole proceeding on a purely hourly basis instead of a base fee.

While the value of the matter is a key question in setting the fee in litigation, assessing the complexity of the case is even more important. A case with a huge amount at stake can be straightforward, while a low-value case can be particularly complex – the facts matter greatly here.

Transparency and cost-effectiveness are among our firm’s core values, and we believe they matter most when accounting to clients. We use second-based time-tracking software, and clients can check in the resulting report at any time when and how much time we spent on each part of the matter.

Again from experience, we can say why we do not consider a fee fixed for the whole of a litigation appropriate: either the client or the lawyer ends up worse off financially. If a high fixed fee is agreed and the matter is settled quickly, the client may well feel they paid a great deal for what looks like little work. If, on the other hand, the matter drags on for years because of unforeseeable circumstances, the lawyer has done a great deal of work at a loss. That is why we believe that in litigation an hourly rate is the most transparent arrangement: the client pays only for the hours actually spent on the matter.

In litigation every detail carries weight. If you want a realistic view of your options and to start proceedings with a thoroughly prepared legal argument, book a consultation.

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