Court Fee Waiver (IFP) - 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 will 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 receive public assistance.

1. You have a low income. Your income must be at or below 125% of the federal poverty level.

1. You have a free lawyer because of your low income.

1. 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.

Before you start the interview, make sure you have the following information.

1. Your paperwork for the case you are filing. You need to first fill out the paperwork for the case you are asking the court to waive the filing fee for.
    
2. If you get public benefits, proof of your public benefits. This could be something like your MFIP card or a cancelled check from an agency.
    
3. Proof of your low income. This includes things like paystubs, tax returns, or statements showing your expenses.

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 (IFP) interview on LawHelp Interactive. You will be taken to a new website. 

Once on LawHelp Interactive, choose:

1. "Get Started" to complete the interview right away, 
   
   OR
    
2. "Create Account or Log In" to create an account so you can save your answers and come back later if you need more time.
    

Start the Interview!