Court Fee Waiver - Do it Yourself

You usually have to pay a fee to file documents in court. If you cannot afford to pay the fee, you can ask the court for a fee waiver. You file your fee waiver when you file your other court documents.

You may be able to get a fee waiver if you fit into 1 of these 4 categories:

1. You have a free lawyer because of your low income. 
    
2. You get public assistance. 
    
3. You have a low income. Your income must be at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. 
    
4. You can show you do not have enough money to pay the fee and also pay your basic expenses.

Read the Court's Fee Waiver Page for more information.

The kind of information you need depends on which fee waiver category you fit into.

1. If you have a free lawyer because of your low income, you need your lawyer’s name and the organization your lawyer works or volunteers for. 
   
   If you fit in this category this is all the info you need.
    
2. If you get public assistance, you need proof that you get public assistance. Proof could be a copy of your EBT card, a statement of benefits, a benefits awards letter, a cancelled check from an agency, or other things that show the court you get public assistance.
   
   If you fit in this category this is all the info you need.
    

3. If you have a low income below 125% of the federal poverty level, you need:

   1. Information about the people in your household (their names, ages, and relationship to you)
       
   2. Information about your income and the income of anyone else in your household. You need the gross income amount (before taxes are taken out).
       

   If you fit in this category, this is all the info you need.
    

4. If you don’t have enough money for the court fees AND your basic expenses, you need:
    
   1. The income information listed in #3 above
   2. Information about your monthly expenses
   3. Information about your debts
   4. Information about your assets (checking and savings accounts, cars, your house, or other property you own)
   5. Any additional explanation of why you can’t afford the court fees

If you are at a library, you can skip this step of instructions. Public computers already have these programs installed. If you are using your own computer, make sure your computer has Microsoft Word.

(Note: Microsoft Word Pad is not the same as Microsoft Word and will not work with this program.)

Start the interview by visiting the Court Fee Waiver interview on Minnesota Guide & File. You will be taken to a new website. 

Once on Minnesota Guide & File, choose:

• Request for Fee Waiver
   

Start the Interview!