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Court fees explained: what filing a case actually costs

By the Court Cost Guide Editorial Team · Last updated: November 2026

Court fees are the clerk's charges for opening a case and processing its paperwork — not fines, not damages, and not your lawyer's bill. For a general civil case, the first-paper fee runs from $72 in South Dakota to $435 in California in state court, and a flat $405 in federal district court. This page explains what those numbers are made of, why they differ so much, and what a real filing adds up to.

What the filing fee actually buys

The filing fee is paid once, up front, when the first paper — usually the complaint or petition — is handed to the clerk. It opens the case file, assigns the case number, and starts the court's docket. It is only the first charge, not the last: courts price later steps separately, so a motion, a jury demand, copies of the record, and service of process each carry their own line item. That is why two people who both "paid the court fee" can end a case having paid very different totals. Everything below separates the opening charge from the follow-on charges, because mixing them is how most fee estimates go wrong.

The federal benchmark: $405, built from two parts

Federal court is the simplest system to price because the schedule is national. Under the U.S. Courts' District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (effective December 1, 2023), filing a civil action in a U.S. District Court costs $405: a $350 statutory filing fee under 28 U.S.C. §1914(a) plus a $55 administrative fee. The same schedule prices the follow-on items a litigant is most likely to meet:

The takeaway from the federal column is consistency: the same $405 opens a case in every district in the country, and the add-ons are small, published, and identical everywhere. State court, as the next section shows, works almost exactly the opposite way. The full federal and state comparison is in our civil filing fees guide.

State court: a $72-to-$435 range, and what drives it

State general civil first-paper fees run from $72 in South Dakota to $435 in California — a six-fold spread for what is nominally the same act of handing a complaint to a clerk. Three structures explain most of the spread:

• Tiered by amount in controversy. Oregon charges $170 for tort and contract claims up to $10,000, and the fee climbs by tier to $1,178 on claims of $10 million and above. In a tiered state, the size of your claim is itself a fee driver.
• Base fee plus named surcharges. Texas's $350 district court fee is a $213 Local Consolidated Fee plus a $137 State Consolidated Fee. Washington's $290 Superior Court total is a $200 base plus $40 and $50 surcharges. The headline number is an arithmetic stack, and each layer funds a different court or state purpose.
• County-set fees. In Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia, the first-paper fee is set county by county, so there is no honest single statewide figure — the same case costs different amounts in different counties of the same state.

So the number is driven less by "what a lawsuit costs" in the abstract than by which structure your state chose: a tier keyed to the claim, a stack of earmarked surcharges, or a county schedule. Comparing a flat state fee against a tiered or county-set fee without that context produces comparisons that look precise and mean very little.

Worked examples: one case, three price tags

Take a straightforward $9,500 contract claim — small enough for Oregon's lowest tier, large enough to sit above most small claims limits. The filing-only subtotal depends entirely on the forum:

The federal forum costs $235 more than the Oregon tier for the identical claim ($405 − $170 = $235), before either case spends a dollar on service or motions. Filing is also rarely the last charge. In New York, the opening index number costs $210, a motion costs $45, and a Note of Issue costs $30 — so a case that is filed, contested by motion, and set down for trial carries $210 + $45 + $30 = $285 in court fees alone, again before service of process. Budgeting only the first paper understates a contested case in every system.

Who pays more, who pays less — and why

Plaintiffs pay first, but not alone. A defendant who only answers usually pays no opening fee — but a defendant who counterclaims becomes a filer. Washington's statute makes the structure explicit: under RCW 36.18.020, a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim in Superior Court carries the same $200 base filing fee as the claim that opened the case. Defending can be free; going on offense costs the same as it cost the plaintiff.

Low-income filers pay less by design. A filer granted in forma pauperis status does not pay the federal $55 administrative fee, so the federal opening charge drops from $405 to the $350 statutory fee — and state fee-waiver programs can reduce or eliminate the state first-paper fee entirely. The rules and forms are covered in our court fee waiver guide.

Small claims filers pay least of all. If the dispute fits the small claims track, it belongs there: the fees are a fraction of the general civil fee and the procedure is built for people without lawyers. See small claims costs for the limits and fees by state, and the all-50-states index for your state's full guide.

Frequently asked questions

How much are court fees to file a lawsuit?

For a general civil case, the state first-paper fee ranges from $72 (South Dakota) to $435 (California); federal district court charges a flat $405. County-set states vary by county, and tiered states vary by the size of the claim.

Do you get court fees back if you win?

Filing fees are generally recoverable as part of taxable costs when the court awards costs to the prevailing party, but that is decided at the end of the case and is never automatic at the clerk's window — budget as if the fee is spent either way.

Can court fees be waived?

Yes. Federal filers granted in forma pauperis status skip the $55 administrative fee, and every state runs a fee-waiver process for filers who cannot afford the first-paper fee. Our fee waiver guide explains how the process works.

Is the filing fee the whole cost of a case?

No. Motions, notes of issue, copies, certification, and service of process are charged separately — in New York, filing plus one motion plus a Note of Issue already totals $285 before service.

Sources: U.S. Courts — District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (effective December 1, 2023) · U.S. Courts — Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule · RCW 36.18.020 — Washington State Legislature · state fee schedules as detailed in this site's state guides. Researched October 2026 — confirm current figures with the court clerk.