How Do You Waive Court Fees in Florida?

The Florida rule in one table

| Form | Application for Determination of Civil Indigent Status, developed by the Florida Clerks of Court Operations Corporation with final Supreme Court approval. No form number is stated in the statute | | Law | Sections 57.081 and 57.082, Florida Statutes (2025) | | Who decides | The clerk, first. The determination of indigent status is a ministerial act of the clerk, not a decision based on further investigation or independent judgment | | Eligibility test | Income equal to or below 200 percent of the then-current federal poverty guidelines for the household size | | Presumption against | Ownership of, or equity in, intangible or tangible personal property or real property with a net equity value of 2,500 dollars or more, excluding the homestead and one vehicle with a net value not exceeding 5,000 dollars | | Services covered | Filing fees, service of process, certified copies of orders or final judgments, a single photocopy of any pleading, record, or instrument filed with the clerk, examining fees, mediation services and fees, private court-appointed counsel fees, subpoena fees and services, service charges for collecting and disbursing funds, and any other cost or service arising out of pending litigation | | Payment plan | A person determined indigent is enrolled in a payment plan and charged a one-time administrative processing charge. Filing fees waived from payment under section 57.081 are not included in the payment-plan calculation. A case may not be impeded or delayed by nonpayment | | Review | The applicant may petition the court for review of a non-indigent determination, with no filing fee charged for the petition |

What makes Florida different

Florida splits the decision in two: the clerk decides, ministerially, and the court reviews only on petition. The clerk does not investigate and does not exercise independent judgment; the statute says so directly. The second difference is the shape of relief: the statute pairs waived filing fees with payment-plan enrollment and a one-time administrative processing charge, while barring any delay of the case for nonpayment. Both halves are stated as written, without smoothing the tension between them.

The third difference is the presumption. Meeting the 200 percent income test is not the whole inquiry: property equity of 2,500 dollars or more, beyond the homestead and one vehicle, creates a presumption against indigence. On court review only, the court may also weigh whether paying creates a substantial hardship for the applicant or family. Receipt of TANF or SSI is not listed as an alternative indigence test in section 57.082(2)(a) as read, and it is not imported here from the criminal-indigence statute.

The process, step by step

1. Complete the application with net income, other income, assets, and all liabilities and debts, signed attesting to truthfulness. The clerk must assist a person who appears and requests help completing it.
2. Submit it to the clerk of the court. The clerk determines indigent or not indigent and, if indigent, immediately files the determination in the case record.
3. If determined indigent, the applicant is enrolled in a payment plan with the one-time administrative processing charge, and filing fees waived under section 57.081 are excluded from the plan calculation. The case proceeds without delay for nonpayment.
4. If determined not indigent, petition the court having jurisdiction for review of the clerk's determination. No filing fee is charged for the petition. No pay deadline or consequence for a non-indigent determination was verified in the sources read for this guide, and none is stated here.

Related guides

The same process in the other states in this family: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Washington, Oregon, Colorado. Compare all seven at Court Fee Waivers by State.

Source

The form, the clerk's ministerial role, the 200 percent test, the property presumption, the services list, the payment-plan rule, and the review route on this page come from sections 57.081 and 57.082, Florida Statutes (2025), as republished by Justia. The Online Sunshine text was not opened for this guide; re-check there for the enrolled text. Facts verified 2026-10-27.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to a lawyer or your government agency.