Cal. Rules of Court, rule 5.41 · Article 1. Filing Fees and Fee Waivers
Waiver of fees and costs
Text — As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
If unable to afford the costs to file an action in family court, a party may request that the court waive fees and costs. The procedure and forms needed to request an initial fee waiver in a family law action are the same as for all other civil actions, unless otherwise provided by a statute or the California Rules of Court.
(a) Forms
The forms required to request a fee waiver may be obtained from the clerk of the court, the public law library, or online at the California Courts website.
(b) Rules
Rules 3.50-3.56 of the California Rules of Court (title 3, division 2) govern fee waivers in family law cases. Parties may refer to the civil rules for information about:
(1) Applying for a fee waiver (rule 3.51);
(2) Forms for requesting a fee waiver (rule 3.51);
(3) How the court makes an order on a fee waiver application (rule 3.52);
(4) The time required for the court to grant a fee waiver (rule 3.53);
(5) The confidentiality of fee waiver applications and hearings (rule 3.54);
(6) Court fees and costs included in an initial fee waiver (rule 3.55); and
(7) Additional court fees and costs that may be included in the fee waiver (rule 3.56).
Notes and commentary — not rule text
History
Rule 5.41 adopted effective January 1, 2013.
Title 5, Family and Juvenile Rules-Division 1, Family Rules-Chapter 3, Filing Fees and Fee Waivers-Article 2, Special Procedures; adopted January 1, 2013.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As posted by the Judicial Council of California (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/five/rule5_41
- Text hash
- sha256 a2a76792648f46d54ad382d8e5f66f261c78981098366b95762b49e2a1b354ab
- Composed by
- compose_crc.py 2026-10-22: the Judicial Council's rule pages read paragraph by paragraph; verify_crc.py's second reading of the Council's per-title PDFs finds every paragraph
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
California Rules of Court
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.50Application of rulesPrinted as Rules 3.50-3.56 of the California Rules of Court
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.51Method of applicationPrinted as rule 3.51
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.52Procedure for determining applicationPrinted as rule 3.52
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.53Application granted unless acted on by the courtPrinted as rule 3.53
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.54ConfidentialityPrinted as rule 3.54
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.55Court fees and costs included in all initial fee waiversPrinted as rule 3.55
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.56Additional court fees and costs that may be included in initial fee waiverPrinted as Rules 3.50-3.56 of the California Rules of Court | rule 3.56
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.