Can you get your Maryland court filing fee waived?
Maryland decides fee waivers using a judge's decision on your sworn affidavit. There is no published income cutoff, so no calculator can tell you the answer. What follows is the actual standard a judge applies.
Ways to qualify in Maryland
- Inability to pay. You explain your income, expenses and debts on a sworn form, and the court decides whether paying the fee would leave you unable to cover basic needs. This route has no income cutoff.
No fixed percentage. A clerk waives automatically only for people represented by an MLSC-listed legal services program, Maryland Legal Aid, or the Public Defender, and that path uses form CC-DC-088, which the attorney signs.
What to file
Maryland uses the Request for Waiver of Costs (CC-DC-089). File it at the same time as your petition or response, not after.
This page explains how Maryland decides fee waivers. It is not legal advice, and it cannot tell you how a judge will rule on your case. Virdix is a document preparation service, not a law firm.
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