To fill out a court fee waiver form, download the application from the court where your case will be filed, show that you qualify through public benefits, low income, or financial hardship, and list your household’s income, expenses, and assets accurately before filing it alongside your case paperwork. The form itself costs nothing to submit, and if the court approves it, you can file your lawsuit, response, or petition without paying the standard filing fees, which can run from roughly $150 to over $400 depending on the case type.
Get the Right Form for Your Court
There is no single nationwide fee waiver form. Each state court system publishes its own, and federal courts use a separate process. The form you need depends on where your case is filed, not where you live.
For state court, search your state judiciary’s website for “fee waiver” or “in forma pauperis.” Most sites keep the application in a self-help or forms section as a downloadable PDF. You can also pick up a paper copy at the clerk’s office in the courthouse where your case will be filed. Some states use a single statewide form; others let each county design its own. If you cannot locate the right version online, call the clerk’s office. They handle these requests routinely.
For federal court, the process runs under 28 U.S.C. ยง 1915. You file an affidavit stating that you cannot afford the filing fee and describing the nature of your case.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1915 – Proceedings in Forma Pauperis Most federal district courts provide their own application form on the court’s website. The standard federal civil filing fee is $350.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1914 – District Court Filing and Miscellaneous Fees
Confirm You Qualify Before You Start Filling It Out
Rules vary by jurisdiction, but most courts recognize three paths to eligibility. You only need to meet one.
You Receive Public Benefits
If you currently get means-tested government assistance, most courts treat that as strong, often automatic, evidence that you qualify. Programs that commonly satisfy this requirement include Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, and similar state welfare programs. On the form, you check a box indicating which program you receive. Attach proof of enrollment such as a benefits verification letter or an award notice.
Your Income Falls Below the Threshold
Many jurisdictions tie eligibility to the Federal Poverty Guidelines published each year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A common ceiling is 125 percent of the poverty level, though some courts use 150 percent or another multiplier. For 2026, the baseline poverty guideline for a single person in the 48 contiguous states is $15,960 per year. At 125 percent, that works out to $19,950 per year, or roughly $1,663 per month. For a household of four, the 100 percent guideline is $33,000, and the 125 percent threshold is $41,250 per year.3HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines: 48 Contiguous States Alaska and Hawaii use higher thresholds. Check your form for the specific percentage, because the multiplier matters. The gap between 125 percent and 150 percent for a single person is over $2,600 a year.
Paying Would Create Hardship
Even if you don’t receive benefits and your income exceeds the threshold, you may still qualify if paying the fee would make it impossible to cover basic necessities like rent, food, utilities, or medical care. Courts generally have discretion here. This path takes the most documentation. You need to show that expenses eat up nearly all your income and that the filing fee would push your household into genuine hardship.
Gather Your Numbers Before You Sit Down
The specific fields vary between state forms, but the information courts want is remarkably consistent. Pulling it together first makes the form go faster and keeps you from guessing.
Personal and Household Information
You will list your name, address, and the case number if one has been assigned. Most forms also ask for the names and ages of everyone in your household and whether they contribute to household income. If you live with a working spouse or partner, expect to list their earnings. Courts look at total household income, not just yours.
Income
Report your gross monthly income, meaning the total before taxes, insurance, and other deductions. Include wages, self-employment earnings, unemployment benefits, Social Security, child support received, rental income, and any other source of money. Have recent pay stubs, benefit statements, or bank records in front of you. The form is signed under penalty of perjury in most jurisdictions. Accuracy matters far more than making your situation look as dire as possible. Understating or omitting income can get the waiver revoked and expose you to sanctions.
Monthly Expenses
The form will ask you to itemize what you spend each month. Typical categories include rent or mortgage, utilities, food, transportation, clothing, medical costs, child care, and debt payments. Use real numbers. If rent is $1,400, write $1,400. Don’t round up to make a point. Reviewers see hundreds of these applications and spot inflated figures quickly. The expenses section exists to show what is left over, if anything, after basic living costs.
Assets and Debts
Some forms also ask about cash on hand, bank balances, vehicles, and real property, along with debts like credit cards, medical bills, and student loans. The court uses this snapshot to decide whether resources are available to cover the fees even if monthly income is tight.
Fill In Every Field, Even the Zeros
The most common reason fee waivers stall is incomplete information. A blank field, a missing signature, a household member’s income left off. Before you submit, walk through every section and confirm nothing is skipped. If a category does not apply, write “N/A” or “$0” rather than leaving it blank. A blank field looks like an oversight. A zero looks like an answer.
Attach supporting documents even when the form does not explicitly require them. A benefits verification letter, a recent pay stub, or the first page of your most recent tax return gives the reviewer something concrete and reduces the chance of a follow-up request that delays your case. If you are claiming hardship, a one-page breakdown showing monthly expenses exceeding monthly income, with receipts or statements behind it, can be more persuasive than the numbers on the form alone.
Sign and date the form. Most forms are signed under penalty of perjury, so read what you are signing. Keep a complete copy of everything you file, including attachments. If the court loses the paperwork or asks for more information weeks later, having your own copies avoids starting over.
Submit It With Your Case Paperwork
File the fee waiver form at the same time you file your initial case paperwork, whether that is a complaint, petition, or response. Submitting both together prevents the clerk from rejecting your case documents for non-payment of fees. If you realize you need a waiver after your case has started, you can usually file one at any point, but fees that accrued before approval will not be retroactively waived in most courts.
There is no charge for filing the application itself. You can submit it in person at the clerk’s filing window, by mail, or through the court’s electronic filing system if one is available. E-filing platforms handle fee waivers differently. Some require you to create a “waiver” payment account and select it at checkout; others simply require you to confirm the filing total shows $0.00 before submitting. If the e-filing interface is unclear, call the clerk’s office and ask them to walk you through the steps for that specific system.
What Happens After You File
Once the clerk receives the application, a judge or designated court officer reviews it against the jurisdiction’s eligibility standards. If you qualify based on public benefits enrollment with proof attached, approval is often quick. Applications based on income or hardship may take longer because the reviewer evaluates your financial picture more carefully. Some courts decide within a day or two; others schedule a hearing within two weeks. Ask the clerk what the timeline looks like in your courthouse.
If the waiver is granted, the court issues an order confirming it and specifying which fees are covered. Your case moves forward without payment. The waiver generally stays in effect through the conclusion of the case, though the court can revisit it if your finances change substantially. In some jurisdictions you must notify the court of a material change within as little as five days.
If the waiver is denied, your case is not over, but you are on a clock. Courts typically give you ten to fourteen days to either pay the fees or request a hearing. Common reasons for denial include an incomplete form, undisclosed household income, assets that could cover the fees, or income above the threshold without a hardship showing. If the form was simply incomplete, you can usually file a corrected version within the same deadline. If the denial reflects the court’s view of your finances and you believe it is wrong, request the hearing and bring documentation you did not include the first time, such as additional bills, a layoff notice, or recent medical expenses.
What the Waiver Does Not Cover
A granted waiver eliminates most court-imposed costs: filing fees for complaints, petitions, responses, and motions, and often certified copies, sheriff’s service fees, jury demand fees, and court reporter attendance at hearings.
Several costs sit outside the waiver, and it is worth knowing which. Attorney fees are never covered; the waiver gets you into court without paying the court, but it does not get you a lawyer. Private mediation, fines or penalties imposed as part of a judgment, and fees paid to third parties such as privately hired process servers or expert witnesses are also outside the waiver. Court reporter transcripts are typically not covered either, since you pay the reporter directly. If you need a transcript for an appeal and cannot afford one, many courts have a separate process for transcript fee assistance. Publication costs for serving an unlocatable party, which can run several hundred dollars, are generally your responsibility even with a waiver. Ask the clerk whether your jurisdiction’s waiver covers publication before you commit to that route.
You May Owe It Back
A waiver is not always a permanent gift. In many jurisdictions, if you win a money judgment or settlement, the court can require you to repay some or all of the waived fees from the proceeds. Some courts place an automatic lien on settlements above a set amount to recover the waived costs. Before any repayment is ordered, the court is generally required to notify you and give you a chance to be heard. The lien typically covers only the waived fees plus collection costs; it does not grow beyond what you would have originally owed. Treat the waiver as a deferral that becomes permanent only if your finances stay roughly the same through the end of the case.