In most cases, you have to pay a fee to file papers with the court. If you can’t afford the filing fee, you can ask the court for a “fee waiver” in order to file for free. With a fee waiver, you also may not have to pay for certified copies, sheriff's service of process fees, or other costs related to starting a case, such as the cost for a court reporter to be at your trial.

If you are getting public benefits or don’t have enough income to pay your basic needs and court fees, you can ask the Court to let you file papers and receive services free of charge.

Typically, you ask for a fee waiver when you first file papers and have to pay your first filing fee. You can also ask for a fee waiver if you can't afford fees later in your case.

Fee waivers expire 60 days after your case is finished (judgment entered, dismissal, or final decision by judge). They can also end if the court finds you no longer qualify for the fee waiver.

You qualify for a fee waiver if: 

• You receive public benefits. For example, you qualify if you receive unemployment, Medi-Cal, Food Stamps (Cal Fresh), WIC, Cal-Works, General Assistance, SSI, SSP Tribal TANF, IHHS, or CAPI. You will need to specify which benefit you receive to qualify this way. 

• Your household income, before taxes, is below a set amount. The set amount is listed on Form FW-001 in item 5b. You will need to give the court information about your household income to qualify this way. 

• You can't meet your household's basic needs and pay the filing fees. You will need to give the court information about your income and expenses to qualify this way.

How to ask for a fee waiver.

• Review Judicial Council Form FW-001-INFO for more information about fee waivers. The Judicial Council’s forms are located at (https://courts.ca.gov/rules-forms/court-forms).
• Fill out Judicial Council Form FW-001 (Request to Waive Court Fees). This is a confidential form that only the court will see.
• On Form FW-001 under item 5, check a, b, or c depending on why you qualify.
• Sign Form FW-001 under penalty of perjury. This means you promise the court that you are telling the truth and that you understand you can be punished for lying.
• Also fill out Judicial Council Form FW-003 (Order on Court Fee Waiver).
• Fill out item 1 in Form FW-003.
• Make a copy of your completed Form FW-001. You'll have 2 total, including the original. You don't need to copy Form FW-003.
• Take your original and copy of your fee waiver forms to the court clerk. You can do this at the same time you file your other court papers.
• The clerk will tell you how long it will take to process your request for fee waiver. The clerk or judge will use the Form FW-003 to write their decision.
• You can also file by mail. Mail the originals and copies to the clerk. You need to include a self-addressed stamped envelope so the clerk can mail your copies back to you. Make sure to include enough postage. If you do not include a self-addressed stamped envelope you will have to go to the courthouse to pick up your copies.
• Some courts allow online filing. You can find out if your local court has online filing by visiting your local court’s website.
• If the court granted your request, your court papers are now fully filed. Your next step will likely be serving the papers to the other party(ies) in your case. If your income goes up after you get a fee waiver, you have to tell the court using Judicial Council Form FW-010. The court may end your fee waiver if you no longer qualify.
• If the court didn't grant your request, you'll need to pay the fee to start your case. But depending on why the request was denied, you may still have options to show the court more information if you act quickly. You will have 10 days to either pay the fee or provide more information.
• Carefully read pages 2 and 3 of Form FW-003 to see what the court has ordered. If you don't follow the instructions, the court will cancel any papers you filed with your fee waiver request and you can miss important deadlines or have to start your case all over.
  • If your form was incomplete, you have 10 days to either pay the fee or file a new Form FW-001 with complete information.
  • If the court denied your request because there wasn't enough information to make a decision, the court will set up a hearing date for you. The hearing will be confidential. The hearing date and documents needed for the hearing will be on pages 2 and 3 of Form FW-003. You must follow the instructions and go to court at the time listed. If you don't go to the hearing, your fee waiver will be denied, and you will have to pay fees in 10 days, or the paperwork for your case will be cancelled.
  • If the court determined you are ineligible, the Form FW-003 will show the reason. You have 10 days to either pay the fee or ask for a hearing to show more information to a judge. If you ask for a hearing, the judge can decide to grant you a full waiver, a partial waiver, or extra time to pay, or they may deny your request again.

How to ask for a confidential hearing about your fee waiver:

• Fill out a Request for Hearing About Court Fee Waiver Order (form FW-006) and the top of Notice on Hearing about Court Fees (form FW-007). Use the instructions for FW-006 and instructions for FW-007 as a guide.
• Make 1 copy of your forms, for a total of 2.
• Take the original and copy of your FW-006 and FW-007 to the court clerk. The court will mail you another form with a hearing date to come to court. 
• Once you've filed the Request for Hearing, the court will send you a completed Form FW-007, telling you when the court date is for your fee waiver hearing. You'll need to go to court, present your information, and be ready to act on the judge's decision right away.

Asking the court to waive additional court fees.

• Before you start, figure out what other fees you need waived. You can ask the court to waive jury fees and expenses, fees for court-appointed experts, fees for a police officer to testify in court, court-appointed interpreter fees for a witness, and other fees (see Form FW-001-INFO for more examples).
• Check you have a current fee waiver. You need to know the date the judge signed your Order on Court Fee Waiver (form FW-003) You'll need to list this on your request. Fee waivers expire 60 days after your case is finished (judgment entered, dismissal, or final decision by judge). They can also end if the court finds you no longer qualify for the fee waiver. If you don't have a current fee waiver, you must ask for one when you ask the court to waive additional fees.

How to ask the court to waive additional fees.

• Review Judicial Council Form FW-001-INFO) for more information.
• Fill out a Request to Waive Additional Court Fees (Form FW-002), and the top of a blank Order on Court Fee Waiver (Form FW-003).
• Make 1 copy of your forms. The original is for the court. The copy is for you.
• Take the original and copy of your request and order forms to the court clerk. The clerk will tell you how long it will take to process your request to waive additional fees.
• See above procedures regarding what happens if the court grants or denies your request, and requesting a court hearing if your request is denied.

For additional information review Government Code sections 68633 to 68641, and California Rules of Court, Rules 3.50-3.58.

Please note that the instructions above apply only to Limited and Unlimited Civil actions, and that there may be different procedures to follow in Family Law, Appeals, and Ward or Conservatee actions.

By Maria Bishop, CCLS

LST Instructor