Last reviewed September 2023 by the Clicklaw Editors

If you cannot afford to pay fees in the Supreme Court, you can apply to the Court for an Order to Waive Fees. This order allows you to file court documents and attend hearings without paying court filing fees.

To qualify for this order, you will have to prove that you are receiving income assistance (welfare) or provide information about your income and assets, as well as your employment, education and workplace skills to show that you don't have much chance of earning enough in the future to pay court fees.

Good starting points are: 

• The Family Law in BC website, from Legal Aid BC, provides a step-by-step guide, "Get an order to waive fees".The guide is written for family law matters in BC Supreme Court, but the basic information for orders to waive fees may be applied to other types of matters as well.
• The Online Help Guide for Supreme Court BC, from Justice Education Society, has a section on Forms, Filing, and Fees, which includes a brief explanation and links to the forms required for making the application for civil matters.
• Order to Waive Fees Package, from BC Court Services, is a self-help package in Microsoft Word format that includes information and forms on how to apply to waive fees for matters in BC Supreme Court (civil and family). 
   

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• I'm trying to prepare a Supreme Court case
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• See all common questions about courts & tribunals

tags

indigency order, indigent status, court fees, impoverished status, impoverishment