Court Fees in the United States

Filing fees

A filing fee is, in lay parlance, the amount of money plaintiffs (the parties who sues in a civil action) must pay to the court to begin their court case. The amount depends on the court and the type of case. They may have to pay other filing fees at certain times during their case. The court clerk can provide a list of all the filing fees for the court case.

Filing fees are usually not required in domestic violence cases. And most courts do not require filing fees for family law cases such as child custody and child support.

Other Court Fees

Each court is different, but other fees plaintiffs may have to pay, even if you didn’t start the case, are:

Service fee– the amount plaintiffs pay to the sheriff or process server to serve or deliver the papers to the other side in your case.
Witness fee– if plaintiffs subpoena or call a witness to testify at trial, you will have to pay the witness a fee.
Mediation fee– in some states, if plaintiffs file a family law case that involves children, you may be charged a fee to have a mediator help you and the other parent of your child come to an agreement about your children.
Appeal fee– the amount of money you pay to appeal or to ask a higher court to review your case to determine if the previous judge made any mistakes.

Court fees waived

Whe plaintiffs cannot afford the court fees, they may ask their lawyer about getting any court fees waived (set aside or forgiven). If they do not have a lawyer, they can still call the local legal aid office to see if this office can help plaintiffs get any court fees waived or they can ask the judge to waive some or all of the court fees by filling out a form called a fee waiver request. Each court has different rules, but plaintiffs may be able to get some or all of the court fees waived if they:

are receiving public benefits such as welfare, Food Stamps, or SSI benefits; or
do not have enough income to support their family and pay the court fees.

Court Fees (Costs)

This section introduces, discusses and describes the basics of court fees. Then, cross references and a brief overview about Costs is provided. Finally, the subject of Remedies in relation with court fees is examined. Note that a list of cross references, bibliography and other resources appears at the end of this entry.