Court Filing Fee Calculator
Disclaimer: Filing fees vary by court and case type. Enter the specific fees that apply to your case. Not legal advice.
A Base Fee Is Rarely the Whole Bill
Court filing fees almost never stop at the headline "filing fee" figure posted on a court's fee schedule. Service of process, motion fees, jury demand fees, and copy or certification charges stack on top of the base fee, and each court sets its own amounts. Because those figures vary by court, case type, and jurisdiction — and change over time — this calculator doesn't guess at them; it simply totals whatever base fee and additional fees you enter, so the arithmetic is exact even when the underlying fee schedule is something only your specific courthouse can confirm.
The Formula
Additional fees can be entered as a comma-separated list — for example, a service-of-process fee, a motion fee, and a copy fee — and are summed alongside the base fee for a single total.
Where This Matters
- Budgeting before filing — totaling every line-item fee ahead of time avoids being surprised by a partial-payment rejection at the clerk's window.
- Comparing filing costs across case types — some case types (small claims, family court) carry lower base fees than others (civil complaints, appeals); listing each scenario's fees separately makes the comparison concrete.
- Self-represented litigants — without an attorney's office handling costs administratively, tracking the running total of every required fee falls to the filer directly.
| Line item | Example amount |
|---|---|
| Base filing fee | $300.00 |
| Service of process | $60.00 |
| Motion fee | $40.00 |
| Total | $400.00 |
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the base filing fee from your court's published fee schedule.
- Enter any additional fees, comma separated (e.g. service of process, motion fees).
- Select Calculate for the total filing cost.
Related Calculations
Filing a small claims case? Check the Small Claims Limit Calculator first, or see the Legal Fee Calculator if you're also budgeting for attorney representation.