Increases in court filing fees

Ben Stevens of the South Carolina Family Law Blog said on May 12th that the South Carolina Legislature is considering drastically increasing certain Court filing fees.  For those in South Carolina, the proposed increases would increase filing fees (except for child support enforcement or modification) from $150 to $200; (b) increase the filing fee for Motions from $25 to $75; and (c) would impose a new fee of $50 per deposition. Michigan has recently increased filing fees as well. 

Stevens was interviewed by the South Carolina Lawyers Weekly about these proposed changes and their impact on litigants in Family Court.  These were his primary concerns:

• "Anytime filing fees are increased, it creates additional barriers that may prevent some from having access to the court system, which is not only unfortunate – it is wrong."
• "Making those tools (Motions and depositions) less accessible will not benefit the parties by any means."
• "The solution is for the legislature to adequately fund the system so that the increase in filing fees won't be necessary, or least any increases can be phased in reasonably and not be so drastic."

We in Michigan should be similarly concerned for the reasons Stevens mentions, particularly where increases may limit a person's access to justice.

You can read Ben Stevens’ article here.

Comments

[Joe Jurecki]

If you can not afford the filing fees then you have the option to file a motion to waive fees for indigence. More lawyers should be using this as well with thier poor clients instead of just paying the fees have them fill out a simple 1 page form.