Filing Fees and Waiving Fees

A common obstacle to accessing the court or defending an action is the costs associated with legal work.  The most expensive cost is the service of an attorney.  Beyond the attorney's work, there are costs associated with filing paperwork, serving papers on others, witness fees, making copies of papers, and court costs.  This post will discuss some of those costs, and ways in which parties to an action can minimize the cost or have the costs waived.

As stated above, the cost of an attorney is likely the most expensive cost in a case.  To help alleviate this cost, many states and communities provide legal services offices for low-income litigants and certain other qualified individuals.  If charged with a crime in Colorado, the Office of the State Public Defender and the Office of the Alternate Defense can be appointed for persons declared to be indigent.  Both offices have attorneys, investigators, and staff to assist persons accused of misdemeanor and felony offenses.  

For civil cases, Colorado Legal Services has offices around the state to help low income persons.  CLS handles cases involving family law (divorce, custody, child support modification), bankruptcy, victims of domestic violence, protection orders, consumer fraud, creditor-debtor, and landlord-tenant.  CLS attorneys not only handle individual cases--they also conduct training sessions for community members and provide information to the public.  

In Mesa County, the Pro Bono Project provides referrals to local attorneys who will handle cases on a pro bono ("free") basis.  Although there is not a mandatory requirement for attorneys to provide a certain amount of pro bono hours per year, lawyers are encouraged to participate and volunteer their time to help the community, and many Mesa County attorneys have helped low income persons through the Pro Bono Project.

Besides the cost of an attorney, there are costs associated with litigating cases in Court.  The following are some common costs in Colorado:

• Filing a Civil Complaint in County Court: $97
• Filing an Action for Name Change: $100
• Filing for a Civil Protection Order: $97
• Filing an Answer to a Civil Complaint in County Court: $92
• Jury Demand (County Court): $98.  Jury Demand (District Court): $190
• Filing a Civil Complaint in District Court: $224
• Filing an Answer to a Civil Complaint in District Court: $158
• Filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage: $230
• Filing a Response to a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage: $116
• Filing a Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities: $222

For a list of all filing fees in Colorado, see the Colorado State Judicial, Filing Fees tab.

Despite the above stated costs, there are procedures available to waive most of these costs for low-income persons.  The fees that can be waived are filing fees, jury demand fees, reasonable copy fees, E-file fees, E-file services fees, and research fees.  If persons who have not been declared indigent, there are procedures available to pay the fees by installment.

For victims of domestic violence filing a civil protection order, the Court waives the filing fees for the victims.

To have the filing fees waived, you must file a motion to file without the payment of fees with the Court, and the Court must grant the motion.  This motion is filed with the clerk's office, and it includes an income sheet that the party must file out.  This sheet will determine if the person's income is below the necessary level for the waiving of fees.  Be prepared to provide evidence of your income and assets, such as disability payment receipts, paystubs, and unemployment benefits receipts.  The motion to waive the fees are available upon request at the clerk's office, or at the Colorado State Judicial website stated above.

Before paying any fees, you should always contact the clerk's office to determine if there is a procedure available for waiving the fees.  As stated above, a motion to waive the fees may be the only step necessary to achieve your goal.  With the waiving of fees, low-income parties can avoid some of the financial burden of the Court and achieve greater access to the legal system.